Updated: October 12, 2020 3:36:42 pm
People shop at the New Dharmatala Market before Durga Puja celebrations in Calcutta (Express Photo / Shashi Ghosh)
Coronavirus cases in India numbers explained: While the number of active cases of the new coronavirus continues to decline every day, the government’s biggest concern right now is that the progress made over the past month could be wasted if people relax and don’t take proper precautions over the next season. of festivals. .
Fewer than 67,000 new cases were discovered nationwide on Sunday, the lowest count since Aug. 23, while more than 71,000 people were declared to have recovered from the disease. It was the ninth consecutive day that recoveries have exceeded the new case detection. This has now happened in 19 of the last 24 days, bringing a welcome reduction in the number of active cases from 10.17 lakh to approximately 8.62 lakh.
But there has been growing concern that falling numbers may lead people to believe that the epidemic is nearing its end.
Top ten states with the highest case load
“People are seeing the numbers go down. What many don’t realize is that you can start climbing at any time, on any day. The epidemic is not over. In fact, the chances of the numbers going back up are very high. So this is not the time to let your guard down, or to be casual or laid-back about it, ”Science and Technology Secretary Ashutosh Sharma told The Indian Express.
“Festival season is particularly critical. The numbers are shrinking and people might be tempted to celebrate the festivals as they have done every year. But overcrowding is the most serious source of infection. It is important to learn from previous instances. Look at what is happening in Kerala, for example. The origins of the surge we see today probably go back to Onam … On the other hand, if we can improve over the next two months without a big surge, then there is hope, ”Sharma said.
A similar appeal it was also conducted on Sunday by Health Minister Harsh Vardhan. Asking people to continue to practice the rules of physical distancing and to celebrate festivals in a simple way, the minister said, “There is no need to congregate in large numbers to test your faith or your religion. If we do this, we may be heading for a big problem. “
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More than 71.2 billion people have been found to be infected with the virus in India so far
For the same reason, the government last week launched a ‘Jan Andolan‘(public campaign) to push people towards strict implementation of physical distancing rules, especially during festival season. In Maharashtra, Prime Minister Uddhav Thackeray asked people to wear their masks correctly, covering the nose and mouth, and not as a fashion accessory that hangs from the neck. He said the choice for people was between wearing masks and practicing social distancing, or going back to living under lockdown restrictions even during festivals.
Ashutosh Sharma, the Secretary for Science and Technology, said that due to the slowdown in the epidemic brought on by the initial shutdown, India now has adequate capacity to deal with the number of infected people. But even that can be affected if the numbers spike suddenly.
In the ten states with the maximum number of cases, only four now have growth rates of more than one percent per day: Kerala, Karnataka, West Bengal and Odisha.
After five days, the count of new cases in Karnataka fell below 10,000 on Sunday. The state had crossed the seven lakh mark for total confirmed infections. But it is still the only state, other than Maharashtra, that has more than one lakh of active cases. Kerala, the fastest growing state in the country at the moment, with a daily growth rate of more than 3.3 percent, it is also approaching a lakh of active cases. In most other states, including Maharashtra, active cases are declining.
In fact, in nine states today, less than 10 percent of all infections are active. The largest proportion, unsurprisingly, is in Kerala, where 33 percent of confirmed 1.91 lakh infections are active cases at the moment.
So far over 71.2 lakh people have been found to be infected with the virus in India, of which around 8.62 lakh, or 12 percent, are currently active cases. More than 1.09 lakh people have succumbed to the disease so far.
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