New Delhi: The Union Health Ministry said on Tuesday that so far, 187 individuals in India have been detected with the UK coronavirus strain, six with the South African strain, and one with the Brazilian strain. There is no evidence to say that these new variants are responsible for the upsurge of Covid-19 cases in Kerala and Maharashtra, Dr VK Paul, Member of the NITI Aayog, said.
Rajesh Bhushan, Secretary, Health Ministry, said the cumulative positivity rate is 5.19 per cent in the country and is declining rapidly. Kerala and Maharashtra still have 75 per cent active Covid-19 cases. Kerala has 38 per cent of the total active cases of the country while Maharashtra has 37 per cent of the total active cases, he said.
Concerned over the rising coronavirus cases, Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh Tuesday ordered fresh guidelines in the state to contain the spread of virus. The CM said the capacity of indoor gatherings would be restricted to 100 and outdoor gatherings to 200 from March 1, along with strict enforcement on wearing of mask and social distancing. Coronavirus testing would also to be ramped to 30,000 a day.
India’s total tally of Covid-19 cases rose to 1,10,16,434 on Tuesday, with 10,584 new infections being reported in a day, while the recoveries have surpassed 1.07 crore, according to data from the Union Health Ministry. With 78 new fatalities in a day, the overall death toll increased to 1,56,463, the data updated at 8 am showed.
Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan Tuesday said over 1.17 crore people have been vaccinated against Covid-19 so far.
The number of people who have recuperated from the disease reached 1,07,12,665, translating to a national recovery rate of 97.24 per cent while the case fatality rate stands at 1.42 per cent. The active coronavirus infections in the country have reduced to 1,47,306, which comprises 1.34 per cent of the total caseload, the data stated.
According to the data, the country’s active caseload as on Monday stood at 1,50,055 cases, which is 1.36 per cent of the total positive cases. The Health Ministry stated that seven states or UTs have not reported any new cases in last 24 hours.
Agencies

KR Desk