Coronavirus India Updates: Active Cases Fall Below 9.2 Lakh As New Cases Drop To 42-Day Low
Track the latest updates on the Covid-19 pandemic in India, here.
Active coronavirus cases in India continued to fall, in a positive turn for the country with the second most cases in the world, as recoveries topped new cases for thirteen of the last 30 days.
India added over 61,000 fresh cases in a day -- lowest in 42 days -- taking the total tally close to 67 lakh in Asia’s third-largest economy, according to the Health Ministry’s update as of 8 a.m. on Oct. 6. This includes over 1 lakh deaths and 56 lakh patients who have recovered.
This is also the fifth straight day of a decline in new Covid-19 cases.
Key figures:
- Total number of confirmed coronavirus cases: 66,85,082
- Active cases: 9,19,023
- Cured/discharged/migrated: 56,62,490
- Deaths: 1,03,569
- Fresh cases in 24 hours: 61,267
- One-day recoveries: 75,787
- One-day deaths: 884
The drop in fresh cases, coupled with the rise in recoveries has led to a significant decline in active cases. India reported 10.17 active cases on Sept. 18, which has fallen to 9.1 lakh in a matter of 18 days. They now stand for only 13.7% of India’s total confirmed cases.
Global Update
The World Health Organization estimated that about 10% of the global population has been infected. France said diners in Paris and Marseille must wear masks between courses.
Covid-19 is spreading again across most of the U.S., hammering rural America and smaller cities and raising anxiety in New York, as experts warn that school reopenings and colder weather may cause the situation to rapidly deteriorate.
Globally, cases have topped 35.3 million with over 1.04 million of them dead, as of Tuesday morning.
Track the latest updates on the Covid-19 pandemic in India, here.
Health Secretary Downplays Correlation Between Health Infrastructure And Covid Deaths
India’s health secretary Rajesh Bhushan today said that there is no direct correlation between good health infrastructure and deaths due to Covid-19.
Other countries with far better health infrastructure have also seen a large number of deaths due to Covid, Bhushan said at a press conference today.
His comments come at a time when over 1.03 lakh people in India have died due to the novel coronavirus. While that is only 1.5% of the total confirmed cases in the country, it still is the third-highest death toll in the world behind U.S. and Brazil.
India has reported more than 1,000 daily deaths for 26 of the last 30 days.
Kerala A Hotbed Of Infections Now, Says Government
Kerala has seen the largest increase in active cases over the last one month, Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said in a press conference today.
Between Sept. 8 and Oct. 6, active cases in Kerala have almost quadrupled, Bhushan said. The are multiple factors for rise in cases in Kerala, including a surge in infections around Onam festival, he said.
New Testing Method To Diagnose Covid In 30 Minutes
Scientists have developed a new method that allows anyone to easily and quickly detect Covid-19 in just 30 minutes, and is as accurate as the widely-used RT-PCR diagnostic test.
The SENSR technology developed by researchers at Pohang University of Science & Technology in South Korea diagnosis Covid-19 based on the RNA sequence of the virus, reducing the stress on one single testing location and avoiding contact with infected patients as much as possible.
RNA is a nucleic acid that mediates genetic information or is involved in controlling the expression of genes.
The biggest benefit is that a diagnostic kit can be developed within a week even if a new infectious disease appears other than Covid-19, according to the research published in the journal Nature Biomedical Engineering.
The researchers noted that PCR molecular test currently used for diagnosis has very high accuracy but entails a complex preparation process to extract or refine the virus. The test is not suitable for use in small farming or fishing villages, or airport or drive-thru screening clinics as it requires expensive equipment as well as skilled experts, they said.
The researchers designed the test kit to produce nucleic acid binding reaction to show fluorescence only when Covid-19 RNA is present. The virus can be detected immediately without any preparation process with high sensitivity in a short time. And it is as accurate as the current PCR diagnostic method.
Third Day of Below 1,000 Deaths
While Covid-19 deaths stand for merely 1.5% of total confirmed coronavirus cases in India, the absolute number is fairly large -- above a lakh.
In terms of absolute deaths, the country has seen the third highest toll in the world, behind only the U.S. and Brazil.
The pace of death too, however, may be slowing. Authorities across the country have now reported less than 1,000 deaths for three straight days.