At a time when almost all States/Union Territories are showing a declining trend in number of cases and deaths due to Covid-19, Kerala and Maharashtra are becoming a matter of concern for the Centre by continuing to report a large number of cases, contributing to almost 70 per cent active infections in the country.
Fearing that the duo might not play spoilsports to its positive efforts shown in the country, the worried Union Health Ministry has now sent high level teams to collaborate with the State health authorities in instituting public health measures for Covid-19 management. As on Tuesday Maharashtra has 44,944 active cases while Kerala has 69,456 active cases, according to the health ministry data updated at 8 am.
“The Central team to Maharashtra comprises of experts drawn from National Center for Disease Control (NCDC) and Dr. RML Hospital, New Delhi while the Kerala team shall comprise of senior official from the Ministry along with experts from its Regional Office, Thiruvananthapuram and Lady Hardinge Medical College, New Delhi,” said an official from the Ministry.
He said that the teams shall work closely with the State Health Departments, take a stock on ground situation and recommend necessary public health interventions to contain the large number of cases being reported by these States.
Overall, India registered 8,635 new coronavirus infections in a day, the lowest in eight months, while the daily deaths fell below 100 after around nine months, according to the ministry data. The country’s COVID-19 tally has gone up to 1,07,66,245 and the death toll increased to 1,54,486 with 94 new fatalities. According to the Ministry, after reaching a high of 95,735 on September 10 in 2020, the daily new cases have dropped to 8,635 on Tuesday, the lowest in eight months.
“In another significant development, the country has reported less than 100 daily deaths in a span of 24 hours, the lowest in eight-and-half months. Hundred deaths were recorded last on May 15, 2020,” the ministry said.
The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 1,04,48,406 pushing the national recovery rate to 97.05 per cent, while the COVID-19 case fatality rate has dropped to 1.43 per cent.
There are 1,63,353 active coronavirus infections in the country which account for 1.52 per cent of the total caseload, the data stated.
A total of 1,54,486 deaths have been reported so far in the country.