Over 12k Covid Cases for 2nd Day, Infections Surge in Maha, Delhi, Kerala; Citizens Rush for Booster

India on Friday registered over 12,000 new Covid-19 cases for the second consecutive day amid a spurt in infections across states. With 12,847 new fresh coronavirus infections, the country recorded the highest daily numbers in 112 days.

Meanwhile, active cases rose for the 25th consecutive day with 4,848 increase on Friday.

On Thursday, the country had recorded a big jump in Covid-19 cases, the highest since February 26 (during the third wave), with 12,213 fresh infections.

Amid this spike, a 44.3 per cent rise was recorded in the number of “precautionary” or booster doses administered during the second past week than the week before.

In the first 15 days of June, around 47.5 lakh third doses were administered compared with 41.5 lakh during the last 15 days of May, official figures show.

Delhi

Delhi recorded 1,323 new Covid cases and two deaths on Thursday, while the positivity rate stood at 6.69 per cent, according to data shared by the health department. This is the second consecutive day that Delhi has recorded over 1,300 cases in a day. And, it logged more than 1,000 daily cases for the third day on the trot.

With the fresh cases, Delhi’s tally of COVID-19 cases increased to 19,17,228 while the death toll rose to 26,225, the department said in its latest bulletin. The national capital had recorded 1,375 new Covid cases on Wednesday, the highest since May 8, while the positivity rate rose to 7.01 per cent.

Delhi had reported 1,422 fresh COVID-19 cases and zero fatality on May 8, while the positivity rate was recorded at 5.34 per cent. The city on May 1 had reported 1,485 fresh Covid-19 cases and zero fatality due to the viral disease, while the positivity rate was recorded at 4.89 per cent, according to official data.

Despite the rise in the positivity rate, the Delhi government is not implementing graded response action plan (GRAP) devised by the Delhi Disaster Management Authority since the hospital admissions are low. The GRAP came into force in August last year, stipulating measures to be taken by the government as per positivity rate and bed occupancy for locking and unlocking of various activities.

Out of 9,582 hospital beds, 182 are occupied, up from 169 the previous day, while none of the beds at Covid Care Centres and Covid Health Centres are occupied. The number of active COVID-19 cases in Delhi increased to 3,948 from 3,643 on Wednesday, the bulletin said.

As many as 2,460 patients are under home isolation, up from 2,108 the previous day, it said, adding that there are 209 containment zones in the city, up from 199 on Wednesday. More than 7,100 coronavirus cases have been reported in Delhi in the last 10 days as doctors and other medical experts cautioned people to not lower the guard and follow all Covid-appropriate behaviour.

Amid a spike in daily cases, the positivity rate too has climbed from 1.92 per cent registered on June 7 to 7.01 per cent on June 15, according to official figures. The number of COVID-19 cases have registered a steady rise in the last 10 days, as the daily tally mounted to over 1,300 on June 15 from 247 on June 6, totalling 7,175 cases in this period, according to official data shared by the city health department.

The number of daily COVID-19 cases in Delhi had touched the record high of 28,867 on January 13 this year during the third wave of the pandemic. The city had recorded a positivity rate of 30.6 per cent on January 14, the highest during the third wave of the pandemic.

Experts have said people lowering their guard and travelling during the vacation season are the main reasons behind the latest uptick in coronavirus cases in Delhi.

Delhi Market Associations Put Up Banners Urging People to Follow Covid Norms Amid Spike in Cases

Several market associations here have started putting up banners urging people to follow Covid protocols and are also encouraging them to take booster shots amid a spike in coronavirus cases in Delhi. Several trader associations said they are making announcements asking people to follow Covid-appropriate behaviour and are also planning to hold vaccination camps in the market.

“We are ensuring that people are wearing masks. We are encouraging people to take the booster shots. The authorities must ensure that the people in crowded places follow the mask mandate. “Staying vigilant is all that is required. We are asking shopkeepers to take booster doses and to customers also,” Atul Bhargava, who heads the New Delhi Traders Association, said. He said they are mulling holding a Covid vaccination camp.

Traders at the Sarojini Nagar market, which is one of the most crowded markets, are repainting circles on the ground to maintain social distancing. “We have readied banners asking people to follow Covid protocols. We will put up these banners tomorrow. We have put up posters also outside the shop which says — No mask no entry. “We will make circles on the ground to ensure social distancing,” said Ashok Randhawa, president of Sarojini Nagar Mini Market Traders’ Association.

Maharashtra

Maharashtra on Thursday recorded 4,255 new coronavirus infections, highest since February 12, and three pandemic- related fatalities, the state health department said. A day before, the state had recorded 4,024 new cases and two deaths.

The active caseload rose to 20,634 on Thursday.On February 12, the state had recorded 4,359 COVID-19 cases.

Two more cases of B.A.5 variant of coronavirus were also reported in the state on Thursday, the health department release said.According to the latest report of the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI), two patients of B.A.5 variant were detected in Nagpur. One of them was a 29-year-old male, while other was a 54-year-old female. They had tested positive for COVID-19 on June 6 and 9, respectively.

“Both are vaccinated. They recovered in home isolation. With this the total of B.A.4 and B.A.5 variant cases found in state reached 19,” the release said. As many as 2,879 patients recovered from COVID-19 in the state since previous evening, which took the tally of recovered patients to 77,55,183. The recovery rate in the state is 97.87 per cent.

Mumbai

Mumbai on Thursday reported 2,366 new coronavirus positive cases and two deaths, which pushed its overall infection tally to 10,88,248 and the fatality count to 19,578, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said. The city saw 73 more cases as compared to the previous day, when there were 2,293 infections. Its recovery count rose to 10,55,665 after 1,700 patients recuperated during the day, while the number of active cases increased to 13,005, the civic body said in its bulletin. On Sunday and Tuesday also Mumbai had reported two deaths each.

Since the last 10 days, the metropolis has been recording four digit COVID-19 cases. However, the daily case count went beyond the 2,200-mark on Wednesday. This is the highest single-day COVID-19 count in Mumbai since January 22, when it had logged 2,550 cases and 13 fatalities.

Currently, Mumbai’s positivity rate is 15.11 per cent, while the number of beds occupied in the hospitals has crossed the 100-mark. The growth rate of COVID-19 infections in Mumbai stood at 0.163 per cent for the period between June 9 and 15, and the case doubling rate is 419 days, the bulletin said.

A total of 15,656 tests were carried out in the metropolis, taking the cumulative test count to 1,73,43,803. Of the 2,366 new patients, only 105 are symptomatic and they have been hospitalised. Of them, 13 patients are on oxygen support, it added. Out of the 24,859 hospital beds, only 538 are occupied.

The city has a coronavirus recovery rate of 97 per cent, the BMC said. Despite the recent surge in cases, Mumbai remains free of sealed buildings and containment zones.

Kerala

Kerala is seeing a gradual rise in COVID-19 cases with 3,419 fresh infections reported on Wednesday, bringing the total active cases to 18,345 and the caseload to 65,89,307 till June 15. On Tuesday, according to data provided on the Government of Kerala dashboard, the number of fresh cases was 3,488, the highest in the state in the last 2-3 months.

Eight deaths were also reported on Wednesday, bringing the total casualties in the state due to the pandemic to 69,853 till June 15. In view of the increase in the COVID-19 cases in Kerala, the health department has announced that there will be a special 6-day long vaccination drive starting from Thursday, June 16, for administering precaution doses of the vaccine to those requiring it.

It has advised that no one should skip the precautionary dose believing that they are immune as they have taken two doses of vaccine. The department, in a release, has further said that directions have been issued to provide the precautionary dose at home to all those above 60 years of age who are in palliative care, bed-ridden or living in old age homes.

Since there is a gradual increase in COVID cases in the state, everyone is required to wear masks, it has said. It has also said that analysis of the weekly COVID-19 infection numbers indicated that the highest number of cases were in Ernakulam, Thiruvananthapuram, Kottayam, Kozhikode and Thrissur districts and directed all districts to be vigilant and carry out inspections regularly to curb spread of the virus.

The department has said that the fresh infections are of the Omicron variant which spreads very rapidly and therefore, everyone must strictly adhere to the COVID guidelines to avoid being infected. Those displaying symptoms should get tested immediately, it added.

Tamil Nadu

New coronavirus cases hit another peak on Thursday as Tamil Nadu logged 552 infections including three returnees from domestic and overseas, pushing the caseload to 34,58,997 till date, the Health department said. The death toll remained unchanged at 38,026 with zero fatalities in the last 24 hours, a medical bulletin said.

As many as 177 people have recuperated from the disease in the last 24 hours aggregating to 34,18,658 leaving 2,313 active infections. Chennai and neighbouring Chengalpet accounted for majority of new cases by adding 253 and 129 cases respectively while the remaining was spread across 24 of the total 38 districts.

The state capital leads among districts with 1,139 active infections and overall 7,54,304 coronavirus cases. A total of 15,292 samples were tested in the last 24 hours, pushing the cumulative number of tests so far to 6,68,38,764 the health bulletin said. Earlier in the day, Minister for Medical and Family Welfare Ma Subramanian visited places in neighbouring Chengalpet district which had clocked more than two cases in a street. He visited a few residential localities which have seen a surge in the cases. Later he reviewed the measures taken by the health authorities towards containing the virus spread.

During his visit, Subramanian directed the officials to enhance the RT-PCR testing in the region and inspected the Corona Care Centre and the government run hospitals in the district in which 400 beds along with oxygen support have been kept ready to treat COVID-19 patients. During his visit to the residential localities, the Minister enquired about the health condition of those patients who have tested positive and were under home quarantine.

On the vaccination front, he said 92 per cent of the people in Chengalpet have received first dose of vaccination while 75 per cent second dose, he said. He advised authorities to step up the vaccination drive in those areas which were less compared to other places and those streets which has more than two cases be identified and stickers be pasted in such houses.

Awareness campaigns should be conducted towards ensuring people adhere to all the COVID-19 protocols, he said.

West Bengal

West Bengal on Thursday registered 198 new Covid-19 cases, 32 less than the previous day’s count, taking the tally to 20,20,972, the health department said. The positivity rate, which was 2.95 per cent on Wednesday, improved a bit to 2.26 per cent, it said in a bulletin.

The toll remained unchanged at 21,207 as there were no fresh deaths due to Covid-19. The state now has 1,174 active cases. The bulletin said 61 patients recovered from the disease during the day, taking the total number of cured people to 19,98,591.

West Bengal tested 8,749 samples for coronavirus on Thursday.

Telangana

Telangana continued to witness a rise in number of fresh COVID-19 cases with 285 fresh infections being reported on Thursday talking the tally to 7,95,293 Hyderabad saw the highest number of cases with 188. A Health department bulletin said 65 people recuperated from the infectious disease and the cumulative number of recoveries till date was 7,89,561.

The recovery rate stood at 99.28 per cent. No fresh fatality occurred due to the infection and the death toll continued to be 4,111. The bulletin said 28,424 samples were tested on Thursday.

The number of active cases was 1,621, it said. The state has been witnessing a rise in daily cases for about a fortnight. The state reported 205 cases on Wednesday.

(With PTI inputs)

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