At current rate, deaths could go up to 200/day; Whopping 19.5K cases in Delhi in 24 hrs
With the current rate of the daily surge, India’s Covid-19 cases could reach anywhere between 3.5 and 4 lakh by the end of April. Going by the current death rate of around 0.5 per cent, India could see a daily fatality of around 175 to 200 per day by month-end. On Friday, India recorded over 2.33 lakh new cases and 1,338 deaths, compared to 2.17 lakh cases and 1,185 deaths the previous day.
The country’s average daily Covid-19 growth during the last two weeks is around 5.2 to 6 per cent, or 12,000 to 15,000 a day. Even in the case of a highly optimistic scenario where the cases stabilise around an average of 10,000 per day, the country total should go easily past 3.5 lakh in the remaining two weeks of this month.
The most worrying part is the fact that the number of new cases is rising alarmingly in States other than Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh, which bore the brunt of the onset of the second wave of the Covid-19.
On Friday, Maharashtra recorded it single-day high of 63,729 cases and 398 deaths. Delhi also recorded its single day of 19,486 cases and a record 141 deaths. Chhattisgarh has seen an alarming 131 per cent raise in the number of fresh cases during the last one weeks.
Now, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, and Uttar Pradesh have more than one lakh active cases each.
Along with the number of cases, the death count is also rising steadily amid reports of a glaring mismatch in the number of fatalities reported by several States and figures collected from crematoriums there.
The failure of the authorities on placing any curb on mahakumbh and complete violation of Covid-19 norms in election rallies are seen as the primary reason for such a huge spike in the number of cases.
For example, West Bengal has crossed the national coronavirus average of 5.2 per cent by registering a Covid positive growth of 6.5 per cent. The cases in the State have doubled over the last week. The State has seen massive crowd at election rallies and roadshows with hardly anyone wearing face masks.
Coming back to the worst-hit Maharashtra, on Friday, the State breached another grim Covid-19 landmark crossing a total of 37 lakh infections. A day after the pandemic claimed 349 lives and left 61,695 more infected in the State, the daily tally of infections rose by 2,034 while the daily Covid-19 went up 49.
With 63,729 fresh cases, the total infections climbed from 36,39,855 to 36,03,584. Similarly, with 398 new deaths, the total Covid-19 toll rose from 59,153 to 59,551.
As 45,335 patients were discharged from the hospitals across the State after full recovery, the total number of people discharged from the hospitals since the second week of March last year went up to 39,04,391. The recovery rate in the State for the first time in several days dropped from 81.3 per cent to 81.12 per cent.
After Maharashtra, UP has emerged as the biggest hot spot in the country. The State’s daily Covid-19 cases surged to a record high of 27,426 on Friday, taking the State’s cumulative tally to 7,93,720, an official said.
The death toll climbed to 9,583 with 103 more fatalities, Additional Chief Secretary (Health) Amit Mohan Prasad told reporters here. This is the third consecutive day when the State has reported a record rise in Covid-19 cases. A total of 22,439 fresh Covid-19 cases were recorded on Thursday and 20,510 on Wednesday.