India’s death toll over 75,000
Delhi registered a record 4,000 plus new cases on Wednesday as India’s death toll crossed the 75,000 counts. The country recorded 89,706 positive cases of coronavirus disease (Covid-19), pushing the country’s cumulative tally past 4.3 million-mark.
The country also saw 1,115 deaths in the last 24 hours, which logged the cumulative death toll at 73,890 due to the disease outbreak.
The national Capital had added just around 650 cases on August 16, but on Wednesday the figure stood at 4,039. With more than 2 lakh cases, Delhi is very close to replacing Pune as the worst affected Indian city.
On Wednesday, Delhi recorded as many as 20 deaths which took its fatality count to 4,630. The national Capital has increased the number of tests per day and also come out with the provision of “testing on demand”. Now no medical prescription is required for testing.
Despite a sharp surge in Covid-19 cases in the national Capital over the last fortnight, the Delhi Government has ruled out the possibility of another lockdown, with Health Minister Satyendar Jain asserting that the economy “cannot be kept shut for eternity” as livelihoods of millions depend on it.
The Minister also asserted that “extreme caution and not panic” should be the response of the city, and people should exhibit greater alertness and responsibility in public places to deal with this health crisis.
In the first eight days of the month, Delhi registered 22,378 fresh coronavirus cases, including 3,609 fresh coronavirus cases on Tuesday, the highest single-day spike in 76 days, as the city moved towards two lakh-mark with over 4,618 deaths due to Covid-19 so far.
India’s overall mortality rate has remained below two per cent of the total cases, but the total count is increasing with the country recording around 90,000 cases for the last several days. Such a huge daily caseload has also pushed up the death count to around 1,000 plus on a daily basis. On Wednesday, India’s death count went past the 75,000 marks.
Maharashtra has so far recorded around 28,000 deaths, followed by Tamil Nadu 8,000 and Karnataka 6,800. On Tuesday, Maharashtra recorded 320 deaths, Tamil Nadu 78 and Karnataka 128.