Coronavirus recoveries cross one lakh while India reports nearly 9k new cases

India On Wednesday reported the biggest single-day spike in COVID-19 cases as 8,909 new infections took the total number of cases to 2,07,615.

The death toll also spiked by 217, taking the total fatalities due to the infectious disease to 5,815.

On the brighter side, the number of recovered persons also crossed the one-lakh mark to touch 1,00,303 or 48.31 per cent of the total persons infected by the Sars-Cov-2 virus.

According to a separate DH COVID-19 Tracker, the total confirmed cases are 2,13,792 and the death toll has risen to 5,989 at 8:00 p.m. on Wednesday.

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As on Wednesday, the Indian Council of Medical Research had tested 41.03 lakh samples for COVID-19 through its network of 688 laboratories – 480 state-run and 208 private testing centres.

The Health Ministry issued guidelines for treating ENT patients that discourage walk-in visits by patients to clinics or hospital OPDs.

“Patients having symptoms suggestive of COVID-19 (whether ENT or respiratory symptoms) should be seen in a separate ‘COVID-19 screening Clinic’ and not in the ENT OPD,” the health ministry said.

It added that such steps are necessary to ensure the safety of other patients in the ENT OPD. The ministry also suggested that personnel posted in the COVID-19 Screening Clinic wear personal protection equipment to minimise infections.

According to the health ministry data, Maharashtra has reported 72,300 cases so far, followed by Tamil Nadu (24,586), and Delhi (22,132).

Of the 5,815 deaths across the country, Maharashtra accounts for the highest number of fatalities at 2,465, followed by Gujarat (1,092) and Delhi (556).

At least 7,123 cases have not been assigned to any states, mostly due to discrepancies in the forms filled while referring the samples to testing centres and the current state of residence of the patient.

“The numbers are higher because we are testing more than one lakh samples every day,” a health ministry official said.

According to the ministry, fewer people were succumbing to the disease in India when compared with the rest of the world. India’s current case fatality rate is at 2.82 per cent against the global average of 6.13 per cent.