In sharpest spike ever, India records 51 Coronavirus deaths in 24 hours, takes tally to 324; 905 new cases emerge

In the sharpest spike yet, India has recorded 51 deaths related to novel Coronavirus in the last 24 hours taking the total tally to 324 in the country. As many as 905 new positive cases have been recorded in the same time period.

According to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare data, India’s total number of Coronavirus positive cases has risen to 9,352 including 8,048 active cases. 980 people have been cured or discharged.

Advertisement

In the daily briefing on the Coronavirus pandemic, Health Ministry Joint Secretary Lav Agarwal said India needs to work hard and focus on social distancing to emerge out of this situation. He also expressed concerns over infections in healthcare workers.

The Central government, meanwhile, has revealed a plan to colour-code all districts in the country during the extended period of the lockdown- red for areas with over 15 positive cases, orange for those below that threshold and green for districts that have not reported any infection.

The colour coding is likely to result in almost half the country being coloured either orange or red, after it emerged on Sunday that over 50 per cent of all districts have reported COVID-19 cases. 364 districts have been affected by the outbreak currently; this number was 284 on April 6 and 160 on March 29.

The Union Health Ministry had on Saturday asserted India’s response to COVID-19 has been “proactive” and that the government has followed a “graded approach” towards the pandemic.

It further added that without lockdown and containment measures, India would have had 8.2 lakh cases by April 15.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will tomorrow address the nation at 10 am as the country awaits with bated breath on a decision on the 21-day lockdown imposed to contain the spread of the Coronavirus pandemic.

The 21-day lockdown announced by PM Modi on March 24 is slated to end tomorrow.

After taking feedback from the chief ministers on the current Coronavirus situation in the country, PM Modi had on Saturday agreed with the states that the 21-day lockdown should be extended to contain the deadly virus.

Speaking at the video conference, PM Modi said that the focus should be on “jaan bhi, jahaan bhi” (if there’s life, there’s everything) and it is essential for “India’s bright future, and prosperous and healthy India”.

“While announcing the lockdown, I had said ‘jaan hai to jahan hai’… Most people in the country understood it and discharged their responsibilities by remaining indoors. And now it is imperative to focus on both aspects, ‘Jaan Bhi Jahan Bhi’, for India’s bright future, and prosperous and healthy India,” the Prime Minister told the head of the states.