Destination states see spike in COVID cases due to migrant influx
As the inter-state movement of migrant labourers surged in the last five days with the operation of additional trains and resumption of flights, destination states have witnessed an unusual rise in the number of COVID-19 cases. Most of the returnees had come from the top five hotspot states.
India’s COVID-19 tally crossed 1.5 lakh on Wednesday (May 27) with more than 6,000 new cases reported in the country. But the Centre said the recovery rate had improved to over 42 per cent. While more than 64,000 people have been cured or discharged so far, over 83,000 are undergoing treatment, according to the Union Health Ministry.
In its morning update, the ministry said the total number of cases had increased to 1,51,767 and the death toll to 4,337. As many as 6,387 new cases and 170 deaths were reported in the 24 hours since 8 am on May 26 “Around 42.45 per cent patients have recovered so far,” a senior health ministry official said.
The death rate in India has constantly been declining for more than five weeks. For the last four days, it has been 2.9 per cent.
Delhi saw a rise in confirmed cases with 792 fresh cases reported in the national capital—its biggest single-day spike. With 15,257 confirmed cases, Delhi has seen 303 deaths.
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Tamil Nadu also recorded its biggest single-day spike with 817 new cases, including those who had returned from other states. It also reported six more deaths. The state has so far seen 18,545 confirmed cases and 133 deaths. The positivity rate for the state rose to 7.42 per cent on May 27.
Meanwhile, Maharashtra reported 2,091 new cases and 97 deaths on May 27. As many as 2,436 reported on the previous day. New cases were also reported from Gujarat, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Tripura, Assam, Odisha, Karnataka, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh.
The COVID-19 tally in Kerala crossed 1,000 after 40 people, including 37 people who had returned from other states and countries, tested positive. While Kerala was the first state in India to report a COVID-19 case on January 30, it had almost flattened the curve of the virus spread till the arrival of returnees began earlier this month.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said 445 people were undergoing treatment in various hospitals, while more than 1.7 lakh are under observation. A total of 552 people have been cured. The state has seen six fatalities so far.
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Tripura also reported 23 new cases and officials said the majority of the infected persons had returned from Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal. Odisha saw 76 new cases, of which 74 had returned from other states.
In West Bengal, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said the state had considered ferrying of a large number of migrant workers by trains as a big problem for public health and sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s intervention in the matter.
Those returning from the coronavirus hotspot states like Maharashtra, Delhi, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu will have to go for a 14-day institutional quarantine, Banerjee said.
In Mizoram, Chief Minister Zoramthanga said his government was contemplating extending the lockdown beyond May 31 in view of the influx of migrants.
The Himachal Pradesh government has already authorised all district magistrates to extend the coronavirus lockdown beyond May 31 and three DMs have issued orders indicating that the curfew will continue in their areas for another month.
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Officials in the hill state of Uttarakhand said the doubling rate of coronavirus cases had worsened and the number of infections had jumped nearly five times in this period due to the influx of migrants.
In Rajasthan, Health Minister Raghu Sharma expressed hope that the number of COVID-19 cases in the state would start to decline from the next month. He said the infections have now spread to 32 districts, of which 12 were earlier declared as green zones. Sharma said the government had arranged facilities for institutional quarantine of interstate migrants.
Rajasthan witnessed 109 new cases and two deaths, taking its tally of confirmed cases to 7,645 and fatalities to 172. Gujarat reported 376 new cases and 23 more deaths. The number of confirmed cases in the state has increased to 15,205 and fatalities to 938.
India is among the ten worst-hit countries in terms of the spread of the deadly virus. Globally, more than 56 lakh people have tested positive so far, while over 3.5 lakh have died. More than 23 lakh have recovered.