More on Covid-19

NEW DELHI: India registered more than 1,200 new coronavirus cases for the third straight day, with 1,267 reported on Monday, but the percentage growth of the infection dipped from Sunday’s high of 10.3% to 7.3%.As in the past few days, Maharashtra led the table with 466 fresh cases and nine deaths. It was followed by Gujarat (196 cases), Rajasthan (98) and UP (95). Delhi and Madhya Pradesh recorded 78 cases each. The total number of Covid-19 cases in the country stood at 18,589, as per reports from states at the time of going to press. The death toll stood at 595, with 35 Covid-19 patients succumbing to complications related to the infection on Monday.The continuing rush of cases has fuelled concerns about the pandemic gradually peaking in India. ICMR’s chief epidemiologist Dr Raman Gangakhedkar said the situation will be clearer in the next one to two weeks.Maharashtra and Delhi remain the worst affected states with 4,666 and 2,081 cases respectively, with Gujarat taking the third spot with a big spurt in recent days. Two more Covid-19-related deaths were recorded in Delhi on Monday, taking the capital’s toll to 47.At 466, Maharashtra recorded its second-highest single-day jump in new cases, with Mumbai contributing 308 to the number. The city’s coronavirus count breached the 3,000-mark, touching 3,032 on Monday.While Mumbai took a month to reach its first 1,000 cases, its second thousand came in six days and the third in a matter of just four days. Maharashtra has recorded 232 Covid-19 deaths, the highest in the country so far.Gujarat on Monday reported 196 cases, a significant dip from the high of 367 on Sunday. Ahmedabad, however, continued to be the biggest contributor with 147, or 75%, of the new cases. However, as many as 26 patients were declared cured in the state, 20 of them from Ahmedabad.UP too saw a slight fall in numbers with 94 new cases on Monday, compared to Sunday’s 174. Its Covid-19 tally is now 1,258, which includes 814 persons connected to the Tablighi Jamaat The day also saw a medical officer in Moradabad, who contracted Covid-19, succumbing to the infection. A Covid-19 patient in Kanpur too died during the course of treatment late on Monday evening. The two deaths took UP’s toll to 19.Eighteen fresh Covid-19 cases were reported in Karnataka taking the total number of infected people in the state to 408.In Telangana, two persons died and 14 others tested positive for coronavirus, the first such low numbers of Covid-19 cases in more than two weeks. The total number of positive cases in the state is now 872 and 23 people have died due to Covid-19, while the number of recovered people remains at 186. Andhra Pradesh recorded 75 new cases, its highest single-day tally so far, and three Covid-19 deaths. In Kerala, the trend of more people getting discharged than the number of positive cases reported each day continued. As many as 21 persons tested negative on Monday when six new cases were reported in Kannur.Two persons died while 98 others tested positive for Covid-19 in Rajasthan on Monday, taking the state total to 1,576 positive cases.Bihar’s Covid-19 count reached 113 with 17 new cases even as Jharkhand reported four new Covid-19 cases on Monday. Jharkhand now has total 45 Covid-19 cases of which 39 are active, four have recovered and two have died.