India records over 20,000 new Covid-19 cases in a row, tally tops 6.48 lakh

India recorded another spike in the cases of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) after 22,771 fresh infections were reported from across the country in the last 24 hours, which have taken the tally to 648,315, Union health ministry’s data showed on Saturday.

The country reported more than 20,000 Covid-19 cases for the second day in a row after 20,903 infections on Friday morning.

The recovery rate further improved to 60.80% as 14,335 patients were cured of the viral disease between Friday and Saturday morning, according to the health ministry’s Covid-19 dashboard.

So far, 394,226 people have been discharged from hospitals across the country.

The number of active cases stood at 235,433 and the death toll reached 18,655 after 442 patients succumbed to the coronavirus disease in one day.

The Union health ministry’s data showed Maharashtra, India’s worst-hit state, has 192,990 Covid-19 cases and 8,376 fatalities so far.

The state is witnessing an increase in cases owing to targeted testing, senior government officials said on condition of anonymity. These officials and independent experts said though there has been an increase in cases, the tally isn’t rising exponentially.

Tamil Nadu is now the second state with more than 100,000 Covid-19 cases. The southern state has 102,721 infections and its death toll has reached 1,385.

The high infection numbers in Tamil Nadu must be seen in tandem with its testing numbers. A total of 1.27 million people have been tested in 91 testing facilities as of Friday, the highest in the country.

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has said 95,40,132 sample has been tested so far and out of which 2,42,383 samples were tested on Friday.

According to experts, the high infection numbers can also be attributed to the movement of people after Unlock 1 from June 8.

In Delhi, there are 94,695 Covid-19 cases and the national capital has seen more fatalities than Tamil Nadu at 2,923 till date.

Public health experts have said that the coronavirus pandemic will enter its post-peak period in Delhi in the first week of August if the Capital maintains a steady decline in cases.

According to the experts, the reduction marks a definite flattening in the new Covid-19 cases curve but does not yet classify as a “reversal” of a peak because an untapped cluster or lack of precautions by people could still lead to a spike that pushes the daily cases higher than they have been so far.

It can be said that the peak has passed if the same trajectory continues and new Covid-19 cases fall to about 1,500 a day for at least a week before falling further.

The number of coronavirus cases has exceeded 11 million and killed more than half a million people since it was first reported from China’s Wuhan city in December last year.