New Delhi: India reported 10,158 fresh coronavirus infections and 19 deaths in the past 24 hours, the health ministry said in an update on Thursday. Active cases are now at 44,998, with positivity rate at 4.42%. Total reported cases stand at 44.9 million and death toll at 531,035.
India had reported 7,830 infections on Wednesday. The recovery rate is at 98.72%.
According to epidemiologists, covid cases have been doubling every four to five days. Scientists have said that the XBB.1.16 variant of coronavirus is responsible for the current surge. But in a relief, the infection is supposed to be milder in nature and may not lead to a rise in hospitalisation rate as Indians have likely developed hybrid immunity due to vaccination and natural exposure to the disease. The Centre, however, has urged people to wear masks in crowded places and complete their vaccination doses.
The Union health ministry has directed states and union territories to follow a risk assessment-based approach to prevent and contain the infection. The ministry has advised state governments to examine the covid-19 situation at micro level (district and sub-districts) and maintain focus on implementation of necessary measures for prompt and effective management of covid-19 duly ensuring effective compliance.
“The five-fold strategy, i.e., Test-Track Treat-Vaccination should be followed with continued focus on adequate & proactive testing as per guidelines, monitoring new and emerging clusters of new Covid-19 cases along with monitoring the trend of Influenza-like illness (ILI) & SARI cases in all health facilities or through dedicated fever clinics on a regular basis for detecting early warning signals of the spread of infection,” the health ministry stated as there are few states which are reporting higher number of cases indicating possible localized spread of infection.
The trajectory of covid cases has been rising across the country with Karnataka reporting 1,498 active cases while Kerala has 16,308 active cases. Maharashtra has 5,421 active cases, Gujarat 1,992 cases, Delhi 3,347 cases, Tamil Nadu 2,489, and Himachal Pradesh has reported 1,926.
Under the Centre’s covid vaccination drive, more than 220.66 crore vaccine doses have been administered so far. In the last 24 hours, around 327 vaccine doses were given.
