E-Paper
These 9 states and UT account for 89% of India’s Covid-19 deaths
The Centre has asked the states to ramp up testing and tracing to tackle the coronavirus pandemic amid concerns about increasing Covid-19 deaths.
Nine states and one Union territory have reported 89% of the country’s deaths related to the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) in the last two weeks, the Centre has said.
Rajiv Gauba, Union cabinet secretary and Union health secretary Rajesh Bhushan held a video-conference with the chief secretaries and health secretaries of Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Telangana, Gujarat, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Andhra Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday to assess the situation in these regions.
The Centre has asked them to ramp up testing and tracing to tackle the coronavirus pandemic amid concerns about increasing Covid-19 deaths.
They were also advised to ensure that at least in 80% of the fresh Covid-19 cases, all close contacts must be traced and tested with 72 hours and a minimum of 140 tests per million per day conducted in all districts while targeting a positivity/confirmation rate of less than 5%, a health ministry statement said.
Here’s how they have contributed to 89% of Covid-19 deaths in the past two weeks:
• Maharashtra continues to report the maximum number of Covid-19-related deaths in the country. With 295 deaths on Friday, the total number of fatalities in the state stands at 23,089. With 173,195 Covid-19 cases, Maharashtra’s tally stands at 7,18,711, according to the state’s health department.
• Andhra Pradesh has recorded 92 deaths on xxxday, taking the toll in the southern state to 3,633. With 94,209 active cases, the infection tally now stands at 393,090 in the state.
• Karnataka reported 133 deaths on xxxday, taking the total number of deaths in the state to 5,091. With 83,627 active cases, the total tally now stands at 300,406 in the state.
• Another extremely affected state in terms of the death toll is Tamil Nadu, with 6,839 cumulative deaths reported so far. With 52,362 Covid-19 cases, the tally stands at 3,97,261 in the state.
• Uttar Pradesh on Friday reported 68 Covid-19-related fatalities, taking the death toll due to the disease to 3,217, while 52,309 cases pushed its infection tally to 208,419.
• The Covid-19 death toll in West Bengal jumped to 2,964 on Friday after 55 people succumbed to the viral disease, according to Union health ministry’s dashboard. With 2,69,54 coronavirus disease cases, the state’s tally now stands at 147,775.
• Punjab reported 37 Covid-19 deaths on Friday, taking the death toll in the state to 1,256. With 15,608 Covid-19 active cases, the state’s total infection tally now stands at 47,836.
• Gujarat recorded 17 deaths on Friday, thus taking the total number of deaths in the state to 2,945. With 14,767 Covid-19 cases, Gujarat’s Covid-19 tally now stands at 89,994.
• Jammu and Kashmir on Friday recorded 7,743 Covid-19 cases, taking its tally to 35,135, while 14 more fatalities pushed the Union territory’s toll to 671.
• Telangana recorded eight more deaths on Friday, taking the number of deaths in the state to 788. With 1,915 Covid-19 cases on Friday, the total number of those infected in the state stands at 114,483.
