Coronavirus India Updates: India Adds Over 50,000 Fresh Cases Amid Further Relaxations

India is gearing up for Unlock 3.0 at a time when the country is adding a lakh coronavirus cases every few days, the fastest pace of transmission in the world.

India added 52,123 fresh cases in 24 hours, taking the total tally to over 15.8 lakh, according to the Health Ministry’s 8 a.m. update on July 30. Over 10 lakh of these, however, have recovered. Nearly 35,000 have died.

Key Figures

• Total number of confirmed coronavirus cases: 15,83,792
• Active cases: 5,28,242
• Cured/discharged/migrated: 10,20,582
• Deaths: 34,968
• Number of fresh cases in 24 hours: 52,123
• One-day recoveries: 32,553
• One-day deaths: 775

This is the first time India has reported over 50,000 fresh cases, after hovering near the milestone for nearly a week.

Despite the barrage of new cases, the government has removed restrictions on the movement of individuals outside containment areas at night. However, lockdown will continue to be strictly implemented in containment zones till Aug. 31. Gyms and yoga institutes will be allowed to open from Aug. 5. Separate guidelines and standard operating procedures will be issued for the same.

Cinema halls, swimming pools, entertainment parks, theatres, bars, auditoriums and assembly halls remain banned along with social, political or religious gatherings, schools and other educational institutes.

Global Update

Health officials across Asia are facing a wave of Covid-19 outbreaks, as Australia’s hot spot Victoria state announced a daily record of more than 700 cases and Vietnamese capital Hanoi halted large gatherings.

In the U.S., deaths from the virus surpassed 150,000, the highest official toll in the world and another grim milestone in a pandemic that’s still raging in many parts of the country. California, Texas and Florida each reported record daily fatalities.

Globally, confirmed Covid-19 cases have topped 16.9 million with over 667,000 dead.

Track news and developments around the Covid-19 outbreak in India here.

Given the size of India's population, herd immunity "cannot be a strategic choice or option", the health ministry said on Thursday as it urged people to follow Covid-appropriate behaviour till a vaccine is developed.

At a press briefing, when asked whether India was approaching herd immunity against the coronavirus infection, Officer on Special Duty in the Health Ministry Rajesh Bhushan replied that herd immunity is a kind of indirect protection from an infectious disease like Covid-19.

It happens only when a population becomes immune either through vaccination or immunity is developed through a previous infection, he said.

"In a country with the size of the population like India, herd immunity cannot be a strategic choice or option. It can only be an outcome, and that too at a very high cost as it means lakhs of people would have to be infected, get hospitalised and many would die in the process," Bhushan said.

Source: PTI

While the entire set of Covid-19 data for the 24 hours preceding July 30 morning is yet to be release, the Health Ministry said that recoveries have crossed the 10 lakh mark.

As of July 29, recoveries stood over 9.8 lakh and have been over 30,000 a day since a week now.