India logs 47,092 new COVID cases, biggest single-day spike in 2 months

India on Thursday (August 2) clocked in 47,092 COVID-19 cases, the highest in two months, which took the country’s case tally to 3,28,57,937.

While active cases have increased to 3,89,583, the death toll has climbed to 4,39,529 with 509 more fatalities, the health ministry said on Thursday.

The 12 per jump in cases comes amid a surge in infections in Kerala which has logged 32,803 cases in the past 24 hours. The state’s total count stands at 40,90,036 while it currently has a test positivity rate of 18.76 per cent. The number of deaths has increased to 20,961 with 173 reported in the past 24 hours.

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Kerala while has been reporting the highest single-day infections in the country for the past week has not followed the Centre’s advice for “smart and strategic lockdown”. While a whopping 85 per cent of COVID-19 patients are being isolated at home, the Centre has said that they are not following all safety rules, leading to a surge in cases.

The spike in national cases comes at a time when several states are opening offline classes albeit with strict restrictions. The latest are Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan and Gujarat.

The Union Health Ministry said the active cases increased by 11,402 in a span of 24 hours. The national COVID-19 recovery rate has been recorded at 97.48 per cent.

The weekly positivity rate has been recorded at 2.62 per cent. It has been below three per cent for the last 69 days, it said.

The number of people who have recuperated from the disease has increased to 3,20,28,825, while the case fatality rate stands at 1.34 per cent.

With 81.09 lakh COVID-19 vaccine doses being administered on Wednesday, the cumulative doses given in the country under the vaccination drive has reached 66.30 crore, the ministry said.

India’s COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7 last year, 30 lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on September 5 and 50 lakh on September 16.

It went past 60 lakh on September 28, 70 lakh on October 11, crossed 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20 and surpassed the one-crore mark on December 19 last year.
India crossed two crore cases on May 4 and three crore cases on June 23.

The 509 new fatalities include 173 from Kerala and 183 from Maharashtra, the ministry said. It said that 4,39,529 deaths have been reported so far in the country, including 1,37,496 from Maharashtra, 37,339 from Karnataka, 34,941 from Tamil Nadu, 25,082 from Delhi, 22,825 from Uttar Pradesh, 20,961 from Kerala and 18,459 from West Bengal.

Also read: Initiate smart, strategic lockdown plan, Health Ministry tells Kerala

The health ministry said that more than 70 per cent of the deaths occurred due to comorbidities.

“Our figures are being reconciled with the Indian Council of Medical Research,” the ministry said on its website, adding that state-wise distribution of figures is subject to further verification and reconciliation.

(With inputs from agencies)