New Delhi/May, 8 The countrywide tally of COVID-19 positive cases crossed 56,000 mark and death toll surpassed 1800 magical figure with big urban centres like Mumbai, Delhi, Ahmedabad and Chennai reporting rising numbers of people having tested positive for the deadly virus infection, but the count of those who have recovered also neared 16,000.
More than 5,000 new cases have been detected across the country since Wednesday morning, figures announced by different states and union territories showed. The number of deaths across the country also crossed 1,800 while fatalities were reported from paramilitary forces too. A significant number of health workers and security personnel, who are among the ”frontline warriors” in the COVID-19 fight, have tested positive for the deadly virus in the recent days.
Returnees from abroad, suspect or confirmed cases of COVID-19 or their contacts coming from outside India may opt for paid facilities such as hotels, service apartments and lodges for self-quarantine or isolation if they do not have requisite space at home, the Union Health ministry said on Thursday.
In the ”Additional guidelines for quarantine of returnees from abroad/contacts/ isolation of suspect or confirmed cases in private facilities'”, released on Thursday evening, the ministry said there are large number of facilities such as hotels, service apartments and lodges which are “unoccupied due to impact of COVID-19 on travel and tourism”.
Speaking at a virtual global Buddha Purnima event on Thursday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said India is making every effort to save the life of every citizen from coronavirus, but it is also taking its global obligations during the pandemic very seriously.
Meanwhile, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said on Thursday that 13 states and Union Territories, including Kerala, Odisha and Jammu and Kashmir, have not reported any new case of COVID-19 in the last 24 hours. Informing reporters that 3,561 new coronavirus cases have been reported and 1,084 patients have recovered in 24 hours since Wednesday morning, he asserted that “in comparison with other countries, India is in a better state as the fatality rate is 3.3 per cent and recovery rate is 28.83 per cent.”
Of the total 35,902 active cases, 4.8 per cent patients are in ICU, 1.1 per cent on ventilators and 3.3 per cent are on oxygen support.
