 "covid, corona, coronavirus")
Amid concerns of rising Covid-19 cases and positivity rates, India recorded 2,151 fresh cases on Monday, the highest single-day rise in five months.
Last October, the country had last reported over 2,000 cases. At present the active case load in the country is 11,903 cases, according to the Union Health Ministry. The daily positivity rate is around 1.51 per cent, while the weekly positivity rate is 1.53 per cent.
Experts, however, point out that positivity rates may not be the best measure of the Covid-19 situation. “Positivity rate is a factor of who we are testing. Since we are mainly testing symptomatic patients, it is not an accurate measure of the unfolding Covid-19 situation in the country,” felt Rahul Pandit, Chair-Critical Care, Sir HN Reliance Foundation Hospital, Mumbai.
Around 142,497 tests were conducted in the last 24 hours.
Cases have been on the rise in the major cities of the country – Delhi has over 500 active cases now. The capital city reported more than 200 fresh daily cases for the first time since September on Tuesday with 214 cases.
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In Maharashtra the cases have jumped overnight since Monday. On Tuesday the state reported 450 new cases. Mumbai hospitals now have more than 50 Covid patients and the state has reported 17 deaths so far in March. The worrisome part is that more than 30 patients are on oxygen support.
Omicron-subvariant XBB.1.16 is thought to be behind the recent rise in cases, and according to reports it is responsible for about 60 per cent of Maharashtra’s cases.
As of Wednesday morning Delhi’s active Covid19 cases stood at 671, while Kerala had 2877 cases, Maharashtra reported 2,343 cases.
The country's Covid-19 death toll has risen to 530,848, with seven new fatalities reported. The active cases now account for 0.03 per cent of the total infections.
The Union Health Ministry held a meeting with states on Monday to review the Covid19 situation. India plans to have a mock-drill across health facilities in the country on April 10 and 11.
