India recorded more than 83,000 cases of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) for the second day in a row, taking its infection tally to over 3.93 million, according to the Union health ministry on Friday.

There were 83,341 Covid-19 cases between Thursday and Friday morning, according to the health ministry’s dashboard at 8am. On Thursday, India had reported 83,883 cases of the coronavirus cases.

The country’s death toll reached 68,472 after 1,096 people succumbed to the viral disease, the ministry’s data showed. The number of people who have recovered from the coronavirus disease is now 3,037,151 after 66,659 patients were declared cured across the country. There are 831,124 active cases in the country.

The health ministry said on Friday that less than 1/2% of the active cases are on ventilators, 2% are in ICUs and less than 3.5% are on oxygen support. “This is due to early detection, early hospitalisation and effective clinical management based on Standard Treatment Protocol,” it added.

On Thursday, India had reached another peak of highest single-day recoveries at 68,584. There are 26 states and Union territories which have reported a recovery rate of over 70% and recovered cases are 3.6 times the number of active cases, the health ministry said on Thursday.

Delhi recorded the highest number of Covid-19 cases recorded in a day on Thursday since June-end, data from the daily health bulletin released by the government shows. The Capital recorded 2,737 new Covid-19 cases on Thursday with almost 33,000 tests having been conducted in a day.

Delhi also recorded 19 more deaths due to the infection, taking the total toll in the city to 4,500. After recording deaths in single digits in August third week, the number of deaths started increasing and went up to 22 deaths a day recorded on three days during the last two weeks.

The increasing number of cases and deaths in the national capital has led the Union home ministry to start “active engagement” with the Delhi government and lieutenant governor again.

“The number of active cases and deaths in Delhi was on a decline, but in the last few weeks, both the parameters have gone up. Keeping that in mind, the ministry of home affairs has started active engagement with the Delhi government,” Rajesh Bhushan, the Union health secretary, said.

Source: Hindustan Times

BDST: 1612 HRS, SEP 04, 2020
AP