2,547 confirmed cases in India as death toll mounts to 62; Maharashtra worst hit

Around 50 doctors, medics test positive

New Delhi, April 3 (IANS): The total number of confirmed cases of novel coronavirus in India stood at 2,547, according to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Friday.

Of these 2,322 are active cases of Covid-19, 162 individuals have recovered and discharged from the hospital, one person migrated to another country and 62 people have succumbed to the disease, according to the data published by the Health Ministry in the evening.

Maharashtra remained the worst hit state with a total number of positive cases rising to 335, followed by Tamil Nadu which has 309 cases, according to the Health Ministry data.

At least 286 people are affected in Kerala, while the total number of cases in Delhi is 219. Uttar Pradesh reported 172 cases, Rajasthan reported 167 cases, Telengana reported 158 cases, and Andhra Pradesh reported 132 cases.

Madhya Pradesh has reported 104 cases, Jammu and Kashmir has 75, Punjab has 48 cases, West Bengal 63, Gujarat 95, Haryana 49 cases, Bihar 29, Chandigarh 18, Assam 16 and Ladakh has 14 coronavirus cases as per the Health Ministry data.

In Andaman and Nicobar Island, there are at least 10 cases, Uttarakhand has also reported 10 cases, Arunachal Pradesh has 1, Goa has 6 cases, Chhattisgarh has 9, Himachal Pradesh 6, Jharkhand and Manipur 2 cases each, Odisha has 5 cases and Puducherry 5.

Most number of casualties has have reported from Maharashtra, at least 16 deaths. Other states and UTs that have reported casualties are Andhra Pradesh (1), Bihar (1), Delhi (4), Gujarat (7), Himachal Pradesh (1), J&k (2), Karnataka (3), Kerala (2), Madhya Pradesh (6), Punjab (5), Tamil Nadu (1), Telangana (7), Uttar Pradesh (2) and West Bengal (3).

A total of 163 people who recovered from the disease are from Andhra Pradesh (1), Chhattisgarh (2), Delhi (8), Gujarat (10), Haryana (24), Himachal Pradesh (1), Jammu and Kashmir (3), Karnataka (10), Kerala (27), Ladakh (3), Maharashtra (42), Puducherry (1), Punjab (1), Rajasthan (3), Tamil Nadu (6), Telengana (1), Uttarakhand (2), Uttar Pradesh (14) and West Bengal (3).

In India, around 50 doctors and medical staff have tested positive for coronovirus (Covid-19), raising the eyebrows of the Union Health Ministry, sources said on Friday.

The Health Ministry is trying to assess the situation and ascertain whether these doctors and medical staff have been infected by Covid-19 positive patients.

“We are trying to understand whether these medical staff have been infected by the patients or had a contact history from outside their work space,” said a senior official in the Health Ministry.

The official, however, explained that among the 50 cases of medical staff testing positive, a few were not engaged in treating Covid-19 patients.

The government has now started contact tracing of such cases to accurately assess the reason for them getting infected.

It was also found that due to shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE) at the hospitals, the doctors and medical staff have become vulnerable to coronavirus patients they are treating.

In order to meet the shortages, the defence public sector undertakings and other private players have been roped in to manufacture PPE in large scale for the people, including the medical professionals.

Further, the government fears that as the number of Covid-19 cases rises in the country, the most vulnerable section are the medical community who are engaged in treating such patients.