India’s Covid tally crosses 40 lakh

A record single-day spike of 86,432 cases has pushed India’s coronavirus tally past the 40-lakh mark. This is as per the Union Health Ministry data. India is now a few cases behind Brazil, which is the world’s second worst affected nation after the United States.

Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh are the five states which reported the highest number of cases in the last 24 hours. These five states account for over 62% of the active cases, according to the Health Ministry.

Every individual living in containment zones should be tested using rapid antigen testing (RAT) kits, said the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).”If an individual develops symptoms following a negative RAT (Rapid antigen tests) , an RT-PCR test should be done,” reads the nodal body’s new advisory.

The Centre has asked Andhra Pradesh, Punjab, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, the four states reporting higher number of COVID-19 deaths and infections, to curb chain of transmission and bring mortality rate below 1 per cent. 15 districts across these states have been exhibiting higher active caseload, fatality rates and a surge in COVID cases for the past four weeks.

After a brief drop, Delhi has seen a rise in the number of COVID-19 cases over the last few days. Delhi now has over 1.85 lakh cases, while the death count jumped to 4,513, authorities said.

Less than 0.5 per cent COVID-19 patients are on ventilators, while two per cent patients are in ICUs, and less than 3.5 per cent are on oxygen support, according to the Health Ministry.

Patients involved in early tests of a Russian coronavirus vaccine developed antibodies with “no serious adverse events”, according to research published in The Lancet Friday, but experts said the trials were too small to prove safety and effectiveness.