India has reported a jump of around 1,000 coronavirus infections in daily Covid count as the country logged more than 5,300 new Covid-19 cases in the past 24 hours, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Thursday.
With this, the country’s active Covid-19 caseload has gone up to 25,587, a jump of nearly 2,400 cases. Of all Indian states, Kerala has the highest number of active Covid cases, that is, 8,229, followed by Maharashtra with 3,874.
The death toll has increased to 5,30,929 with 13 deaths — two each reported from Karnataka and Maharashtra, one each from Kerala and Punjab, and seven reconciled by Kerala, the data updated at 8 am stated.
The daily positivity rate has been recorded at 3.32 percent while the weekly positivity rate has been pegged at 2.89 percent, it said.
With an uptick in the trend of Covid cases, scientists said that XBB.1.16 is the Covid-19 variant responsible for the present surge. However, scientists say that people in India have developed hybrid immunity (due to vaccination and natural infection).
Therefore, the present Covid-19 variants will not cause a lot of hospitalization. However, the government has suggested people wear masks in crowded places and complete their vaccination doses if not done yet.
The union health ministry also directed the state and union territory governments to follow a risk assessment-based approach to prevent and contain the infection.
The ministry advised the state governments to examine the situation of Covid-19 at a micro level (district and sub-districts) and maintain focus on the implementation of necessary measures for prompt and effective management of Covid-19 duly ensuring effective compliance.
Meanwhile, the Mayor of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, Shelly Oberoi, gave assurance to the public on Wednesday that MCD is ready to handle any Covid-related situation in Delhi.
She stated that all MCD hospitals have complete Covid-19 facilities, including reserved beds and oxygen cylinders. In addition, the hospitals are equipped to provide RT-PCR and antigen tests.
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