Delhi cases rise nearly 3-fold from last week’s average

NEW DELHI: Covid-19 infections in Delhi showed a major surge on Sunday, when the city reported 293 fresh cases after more than 10 days of relatively low figures, even as the worst-hit state, Maharashtra, registered a nearly 50% fall in new cases from Saturday’s record high numbers.


This was Delhi’s second-highest count of fresh cases in a single day (after 356 on April 13) and nearly three times higher than the average number of daily cases in the past week, which was 105. More worryingly, while the earlier spike was caused by the outbreak linked to Tablighi Jamaat congregations, the fresh surge shows a sudden rise in local cases in the fifth week of lockdown.

Maharashtra recorded 440 new cases, a major decline from 811 on Saturday, although Mumbai’s count remained high at 358 cases and 12 deaths. The national death on Sunday was 53, the second highest so far after 54 the previous day.

At least 17 healthcare staffers were among those found positive for the virus in Delhi. “Six doctors, 11 nurses and at least two other staff tested positive for Covid-19 at Baba Saheb Ambedkar hospital in Rohini in northwest Delhi,” authorities said, adding that hospitals had become a major hotspot for Covid-19 transmission in the state.
With this, India’s total Covid-19 count has reached 27,862. On the brighter side, the number of persons who have recovered from the disease in the country has now touched 6,105. This means that nearly 22% of coronavirus patients have now recovered.

Gujarat continues to report a high number of daily cases, 230 on Sunday. The western state also recorded the second highest death count on Sunday with 18 more people succumbing to the virus. Maharashtra had the highest deaths at 19. Gujarat’s total death toll stands at 151, second to only Maharashtra, which has seen 342 deaths so far.

All 18 deaths in Gujarat on Sunday were recorded from Ahmedabad, authorities said. “Of these, eight were caused primarily due to the Covid-19 infection whereas in 10 other cases, co-morbidity and high-risk factors were found to be responsible,” said Jayanti Ravi, Gujarat’s principal secretary (health & family welfare) said.

In Maharashtra, Mumbai continues to be the worst affected. It recorded 358 new cases, 81% of new cases reported in the state, on Sunday and 12 deaths.

Madhya Pradesh, which is another infection hotspot, crossed two grim Covid-19 milestones on Sunday – the 2,000th case and 100th death.

With 145 new cases registered on Sunday, the state’s corona count reached 2,090, with Indore (1,176) accounting for 56% of it. Indore also had the bulk of Sunday’s new cases (91). MP has recorded a jump of 1,152 cases since April 15 – an average of over 100 a day.

Uttar Pradesh recorded 81 new Covid-19 cases in the past 24 hours, pushing its overall tally to 1,877. The state also recorded three deaths and record discharge of 66 persons taking the total in the two categories to 30 and 327, respectively.

Jharkhand recorded 15 new Covid-19 cases on Sunday, the biggest single-day spike in cases since the state recorded its first coronavirus case on March 31. The total state tally now stands at 82, of which 67 are active cases while 13 have recovered and two died during treatment.

The rise in the number of Covid-19 patients in Bihar continued on Sunday with 23 more people testing positive for the virus. A total of 274 positive cases have been reported in the state so far. However, 56 patients, including 11 on Sunday, have been discharged from hospitals after treatment. But 216 cases still remained active in the state. Two patients died.

Andhra Pradesh reported 81 new Covid-19 cases, taking the overall tally to 1,097. Meanwhile, Telangana became the ninth state in India to breach the 1,000-mark for Covid-19 cases, 57 days after it announced the first coronavirus patient, after a software engineer tested positive. Odisha recorded three new positive cases taking the state’s Covid-19 tally to 103.