India shows jump of 30% in new Covid cases since Diwali

New Delhi, Nov 18 (IANS): After the Diwali weekend and Bhai Dooj celebrations came to an end, India recorded more than 30 per cent jump in new cases of Covid-19 with 38,617 new cases reported in past 24 hours pushing the cumulative the tally to 89,12,907, data from the Union Health Ministry showed on Wednesday.

The toll rose to 1,30,993 with 474 more deaths in one day. The number of active cases stood at 4,46,805.

As many as 83,35,109 people have recovered from the disease so far.

On Tuesday, India reported 29,164 new Covid-19 cases and 449 deaths. The figure of Wednesday is almost 32 per cent more in the single-day spike.

However, the reason could be a rise in the testing as total 9,37,279 samples were tested on Tuesday after a long weekend of testing eight lakh samples on an average, testing data from the Indian Council of Medical Research showed.

The situation of Covid-19 in Delhi-NCR remained grim. The latest surge has left the healthcare system gasping for relief. The hospital, both government and private hospitals have 10 per cent ICU beds with ventilators, which are extremely crucial for patients with severity.

Apart from severe patients, the patients with moderate symptoms are made to wait hours before admission in the hospitals. Besides, non-Covid patients are running from pillar to post just to acquire a single hospital bed in the capital city.

The situation has forced the Delhi government to reconsider imposing restrictions it lifted months ago. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has sent a proposal to Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal and the Centre to consider allowing only 50 people to attend weddings and imposing lockdown in market areas which may emerge as hotspots.

Besides, the district administration of Gautam Budh Nagar decided to randomly test commuters going to Noida from Delhi for the coronavirus from Wednesday. The decision has come amid a surge in coronavirus cases in the capital.

Globally, the coronavirus has infected more than 5.55 crore people and killed 13,36,892, according to Johns Hopkins University.