With 5,880 fresh infection cases in 24 hrs, active COVID-19 caseload above 35,000

New Delhi: As the hospitals across the country are finally going to conduct the COVID-19 mock drills today, India’s COVID case trajectory is refusing to settle down. In the last twenty-four hours, 5,880 fresh infection cases were reported nationwide, bringing the daily positivity rate up to 6.91 per cent.

Several states, including Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, and Haryana, have started imposing stricter measures, including the mandatory usage of masks in public places, especially for the most vulnerable sections of society, and conducting RTPCR testing at airports for international passengers coming back to India.

The measures were imposed after a significant surge in COVID-19 cases over the past week. India’s most populous state, Uttar Pradesh, crossed the 1,000-plus active positive cases mark on Saturday. The countrywide weekly positivity rate due to COVID-19 now stands at 3.67 per cent.

3,481 recoveries have been recorded in the last twenty-four hours, bringing the total recoveries since the outbreak of the pandemic to 4,41,96,318. The Union Health Ministry also reported that the number of active cases is currently 0.08 percent of total infections and that the national COVID-19 recovery rate stands at 98.73 per cent.

The Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Dr Mansukh Mandaviya, is expected to visit the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Jhajjar, to take stock of the mock drills facilitated to measure the counter response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Mandaviya, in a review meeting on April 7, 2023, encouraged health ministers from states to also do the same and oversee the mock drills to be done by hospitals.

Meanwhile, the active caseload has now surpassed the 35,000-plus mark, and the number of active cases in the country is 35,199. In contrast, merely 205 doses of vaccines were administered in the last twenty-four hours. India has so far administered 220.66 crore total vaccine doses (95.21 crore second doses and 22.87 crore precaution doses) of the COVID-19 vaccine as part of the immunisation campaign.

A total of 92.28 crore COVID-19 tests have been conducted so far, including 85,076 tests in the last 24 hours. Experts are suggesting that the number of COVID-19 cases could be much higher if the testing is increased. The central government has, however, directed all states to step up testing, especially using the RTPCR technology instead of the rapid antigen testing.