India has reported 601 new Covid-19 cases, the highest spike so far and 12 deaths in the last 24 hours, with the condition of 58 coronavirus patients being critical in Kerala, Madhya Pradesh and Delhi, a health ministry official said on Saturday.
“Till now there are 2,902 Covid-19 positive cases in India. 601 positive cases have been reported since yesterday. 12 deaths also reported yesterday have taken the total number of deaths to 68. At least 183 people have recovered,” Lav Aggarwal, Joint Secretary, Health Ministry said.
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The highest number of Covid-19 cases—490 so far have been reported in Maharashtra followed by Tamil Nadu and national capital Delhi.
1,023 Covid-19 positive cases with links to the Tablighi Jamaat congregation have been reported from 17 states till now, according to health ministry data.
The ministry underscored that about 30 per cent of the total coronavirus cases in the country are linked to “one particular place”. Aggarwal said in the news briefing that the rate of doubling of Covid-19 cases in India is less as compared to other countries.
“Rigorous contact tracing is on across 17 states which have reported cases related to Delhi’s Tablighi Jamaat congregation. Around 30 per cent of the total cases so far are linked to one particular place where we could not sort of manage it,” the health ministry official said.
{{/usCountry}}“Rigorous contact tracing is on across 17 states which have reported cases related to Delhi’s Tablighi Jamaat congregation. Around 30 per cent of the total cases so far are linked to one particular place where we could not sort of manage it,” the health ministry official said.
{{/usCountry}}The Tablighi Jamaat meet was held earlier last month in south Delhi’s Nizamuddin area, and has now turned into a Covid-19 hotspot.
India is increasing Covid-19 testing capacity progressively, the official said. “We are increasing our Covid-19 testing capacity progressively,” he said.
The health ministry also issued fresh guidelines on certain precautions to tackle the disease and asked citizens not to recycle masks used as that could also spread the infection. Ministry officials urged people to start making masks at home if there happened to be a shortage in neighbourhood shops.
“There is no need to panic but awareness is a must to fight the battle against Covid-19: the health ministry official said.