Coronavirus India Cases: Around 70,16,046 people have so far recuperated from the disease. (File)
New Delhi:
India’s coronavirus count has crossed 78 lakh with a jump of 53,370 cases in the last 24 hours, government data shows. And 650 deaths in the last 24 hours have pushed the total death count to 1,17,956.
The country has been reporting a steady decline in its daily coronavirus infections after reaching a peak of about 90,000 cases a day in September. India, which reported its first case on January 30, is the second worst-hit country in the world by the pandemic after the United States.
About 61 per cent of the total recovered cases from COVID-19 are from six states and UTs of Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi, the Union health ministry said on Saturday.
Around 70,16,046 people have so far recuperated from the disease, pushing the national recovery rate to 89.78 per cent on Saturday, it said.
“About 61 per cent of the total recovered cases from COVID-19 are from six states and Union territories (UTs) of Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi,” the ministry said.
While Maharashtra recorded 20.6 per cent of the total recoveries, 10.9 per cent recovered cases were from Andhra Pradesh, 9.9 per cent from Karnataka, 9.4 per cent from Tamil Nadu, 6.1 per cent from Uttar Pradesh and 4.1 per cent from Delhi, it said.
Here are the Updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19) Cases:
West Bengal on Saturday reported the highest single-day discharge of 3,753 COVID-19 patients, taking the total number of recovered people to 3,02,340, the health department said in a bulletin.
The discharge rate is now 87.49 per cent.
The coronavirus tally in the state rose to 3,45,574 after 4,148 people tested positive for the disease, while 59 fresh fatalities pushed the death count to 6,427, it said.
The number of active cases is now 36,807.
The 4,148 new cases included 896 from North 24 Parganas district, 895 from Kolkata, 229 from South 24 Parganas and 224 from Howrah, the bulletin said.
Of the fresh fatalities, 19 were registered in Kolkata and 14 in Hooghly. The remaining other deaths were reported from various other districts.
The bulletin said that 44 of the 59 deaths were caused because of comorbidities where COVID-19 was incidental.
In the last 24 hours, 44,724 samples were tested for COVID-19 in West Bengal, taking the total number of such tests to 42,55,801, the bulletin added.
Due to adverse economic conditions and restrictions amid COVID, the artist involved in making Ravan effigies in Chhattisgarh witnessed a drop in demand for effigies for the Dusshera festival.
Artisan said they did not get as many orders as they used to receive last year. This year, they have mostly prepared 10 feet tall effigies to sell to the customers.
Speaking to ANI, an artisan said, “All the boys in this area used to gather at one place and made effigies but this year due to COVID-19 nobody came forward to help us. The business has also affected as there is a very low demand for the effigies this year.”
“By selling 20-feet effigy, we used to earn around Rs 10,000. This year we have made 10-feet effigies and buyers are not willing to pay more than Rs 4,000 for a piece,” he added.
The 10th day of Sharad Navratri is celebrated as Dussehra or Vijay Dashami. It is celebrated with great joy and fervour across India by burning the effigies of Ravan in open fields to symbolise the victory of ”good” over ”evil”.
This year the festival spirit has been dampened by the COVID-19 which have spread all over the world.
The national capital on Saturday recorded 4,116 fresh COVID-19 cases, the highest single-day spike in 35 days, while the death count from the disease mounted to 6,225, according to a Delhi government bulletin.
This is the second consecutive day when over 4,000 cases were recorded in the city. On Friday, 4,086 cases were recorded.
With the 4,116 fresh infections, the total number of COVID-19 cases in Delhi has climbed to 3,52,520, the bulletin said.
A section of the more than 2,000 healthcare workers, including doctors from three North Delhi Municipal Corporation-run hospitals – Hindu Rao (a former COVID-19 facility), Rajan Babu TB Hospital, and Kasturba Gandhi Hospital for Women – have started an indefinite hunger strike against non-payment of salaries since July.
Amid the pandemic, five doctors – Dr Siddharth Taara, Dr Manish Chaudhary, Dr Nilchakra Sahu, Dr Mayur and Dr Tejas Chaudhary, all from Hindu Rao – have stopped eating and drinking water to press for regular payment of salaries at a fixed date by the municipal corporation. Other protesting doctors have said they would take turns to fast with these five.