E-Paper
Raj crosses 2k-mark after 44 new cases
Jaipur:
Jaipur:
The number of coronavirus disease (Covid-19) cases surpassed 2,000 in Rajasthan on Friday with 44 fresh cases, as it became the fourth state to breach the grim milestone in the battle to contain the infectious disease that has prompted the government to lock down the country till May 3.
While the number of cases climbed to 2008, four deaths were reported from Jaipur on Friday, taking the toll in the state to 31. Of the fresh positive cases, 21 were reported from Jaipur, 18 from Kota, four from Jhalawar and one from Bharatpur.
Rohit Kumar Singh, additional chief secretary, health, said a 79-year-old man from Jamwa Ramgarh in the Jaipur district died of Covid-19 on April 22. He was admitted at the SMS hospital on April 13 for an emergency surgery. While his first sample tested negative for Covid-19, a second sample taken on April 23, after his death, was found positive for the SARS-CoV-2 pathogen.
A 60-year-old man who was suffering from coronary artery disease died on April 23. He was admitted to SMS hospital on April 22 and was found positive on the evening of April 23, said Singh.
The developments came even as the central government deployed six teams, including one in Rajasthan’s Jaipur, to assess an alarming rise in the number of cases and present a report on remedial action to control the outbreak.
Singh said that data showed that of every 100 people tested in Rajasthan, 2.85 were testing positive, while the national average for infected people was 4.4.
The highest number of infected persons per 100 tests was being reported from Delhi, with 7.94 cases, followed by Maharashtra with 6.86 cases. The states ranking lower than Rajasthan were Tamil Nadu, with 2.7 positive cases per 100 tests, Kerala with 2.1 cases, Andhra Pradesh with 1.96 cases, Haryana with 1.7 cases and Karnataka with 1.45 cases.
Health minister Raghu Sharma said that while the total count crossed 2,000 in Rajasthan, the rate of infection appeared to be slowing. He said 193 people were so far discharged after recovering from Covid-19.
Sharma said that the state was increasing the capacity and the mortality rate in the state was lower than the national average.
On Friday, the Rajasthan government allowed the working time in factories to be increased from 8 hours to 12 hours per day with limited workforce. The Rajasthan Factories and Boilers Inspection Department has given exemption to factories to operate at full capacity with around 60-65% of the usual manpower.
