Hyderabad: Medics outside an isolation ward of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) at a hospital in Hyderabad Hyderabad: Medics outside an isolation ward of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) at a hospital in Hyderabad

With over 1,300 COVID-19 cases reported in the country so far, the number of hotspots of the disease have increased, the Health Ministry said Tuesday, while underlining that it is implementing rigorous contact tracing and cluster containment strategies. Addressing the daily press conference to provide updates on the COVID-19 situation, Joint Secretary in Health Ministry Lav Agarwal said 227 cases have been reported in the last 24 hours and he attributed the increase to “lack of people’s support and delay in timely detection” of the cases.

Earlier in the day, Chief Justice of India S A Bobde told the Centre to ensure all migrants who had been shifted to shelter homes received food, nourishment and medical aid. His instruction came after the government stated that all migrants on the road had been shifted to the nearest available shelters as they pose a risk of spreading the coronavirus if they return home. The CJI also directed the government to let volunteers manage the shelters, instead of the police as there should be no use of force or intimidation.

Two more deaths due to Covid-19 were reported today, one each from Kerala and West Bengal. The number of active cases in the country rose with more infections in New Delhi, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat, among other states. The government maintains there is no community transmission of the virus but is studying emerging hotspots, where they will follow “rigorous surveillance”.

The number of global coronavirus infections stands at 786,291, the most in the United States (164,620), following by Italy (101,739), Spain (87, 956) and China (82,240). Among the 37,820 people who have died from the virus, the most are from Italy (11,591), Spain (7,716) and China (3,187). In the list of countries with the most infections, India ranks 40 with 1,397 cases.