Covid-19 tally crosses 2.5 lakh

Within 20 days of crossing the one-lakh mark, India’s Covid-19 tally went up by another lakh and a half. As on June 8, the number of cases in India has crossed 2.5 lakh. Of the 2,56, 611 confirmed cases, 1,24,430 persons or nearly 48 per cent have recovered, while 7,200 patients have succumbed to the virus, said the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Monday.

A total of 47,74,434 tests have been done till date, with 1,08,048 tests in the last 24 hours alone, according to data provided by the Indian Council of Medical Research.

India, which crossed the one-lakh mark on May 19, added another 50,000 cases over the next eight days. It took another seven days (on June 3) to record two lakh cases. In just five more days, over 50,000 cases have been reported, taking the total beyond 2.5 lakh. In the last 24 hours, close to 10,000 new cases have been registered.

While Chief Minister of Delhi Arvind Kejrival had earlier indicated that only those with proof of residence in the State will be treated in Delhi’s hospitals, Anil Baijal, Lieutenant Governor of Delhi, who is also the Chairperson of the Delhi Disaster Management Authority, has overturned the much-criticised order citing that Right to Health is an integral part of Right to Life.

He also maintained that denying medical treatment on grounds of not being a resident of Delhi cannot be permitted. Baijal stated that government and private hospitals as well as nursing homes situated in Delhi will have to extend medical facilities to all Covid-19 patients, irrespective of whether they are residents of Delhi or not.

The Health Ministry onducted a high-level review meeting via video conference with district collectors, municipal commissioners, chief medical officers, superintendent of district hospitals, and principals of medical colleges from 45 municipal corporations across 38 districts in 10 states — Maharashtra, Telengana, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Uttarakhand and Madhya Pradesh.

The main issues discussed were curtailment of widespread infection in densely populated urban areas, with areas that shared public amenities, importance of house-to-house surveys, prompt testing followed by prompt isolation, clinical management and containment strategy to be implemented.

The Centre has urged the States to put a system in place for managing bed availability of beds. The States were also reminded to activate fever clinics for detection of Severe Acute Respiratory Illness and Influenza Like Illness cases in buffer zones and have also been advised to make district-wise prospective plan for the coming months, as lockdown is being eased and curbs are lifted.

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