Jubilee Post News & Views
Jubilee News Desk
The number of confirmed coronavirus infections in India has surpassed five million. IN the past 24-hours India reported 90123 fresh covid cases and 1,290 fresh fatalitiestaking the tally to 50,20,360 second after the USA. IN all 9,95,933 active cases are there and 39,42,361 have recovered while 82,066 deaths have been reported, according to the union health ministry.
The virus spread is much faster in India as compared to other countries, with daily cases crossing 90,000 for the five days up until Wednesday. But the death rate is lower than in many countries with a high caseload.
The rise in infections comes as the government continues to lift restrictions throughout the country to try to boost an economy that lost millions of jobs when the virus hit in March.
In the initial stages of Covid-19, India appeared to be doing fairly well, imposing a strict lockdown, but the virus then hit megacities like Mumbai and the capital Delhi, before surging in smaller cities and rural areas. Despite the increase, the government has eased restrictions.
As India opens up its economy and people return to work, Covid-19 cases have been surging. Some 600,000 cases were added just last week. India’s caseload now stands at 5,020,359 after it added 90,123 cases in the last 24 hours. Major cases being reported from Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra, Tamil Nadu.
On the other hand, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) DG Balram Bhargava has clarified that reinfection was possible even though it was a rare occurrence. He also stressed that it was not a matter of serious concern. The remarks were made amid suspected cases of Covid-19 reinfection being reported from abroad and Indian states like Telangana, Karnataka, Gujarat, Punjab and Maharashtra.
Meanwhile, Bill Gates told a news agency that it was very likely that Covid-19 vaccines would be rolled out in a fairly big volume in India sometime next year. He also said he was brokering idea of taking a vaccine and manufacturing it in India.
