Fresh COVID cases decline in 18 states and UTs, rise sharply in 16

The months of March, April and early May saw the worst of COVID second wave, but things have started to improve relatively. The Union Health Ministry data released on Tuesday (May 11) shows a drop in daily fresh cases and deaths in at least 18 states and union territories.

The downward trend reflected on India’s tally on Tuesday with 3,29,942 new cases reported against 3,66,161 on Monday. The death toll went up slightly from 3,754 to 3,876, but in the last 24 hours, recoveries outnumbered new cases for the first time in 61 days.

Speaking at a press conference, Union health secretary Rajesh Bhushan said, “A total of 13 states have more than 1 lakh active cases, six states have 50,000 to 1 lakh active cases and 17 states have less than 50,000 active cases.”

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Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Delhi, Rajasthan, Haryana, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Jharkhand, Telangana, Chandigarh, Ladakh, Daman and Diu, Lakshadweep and Andaman & Nicobar Islands have reported a decline in cases, said Bhushan.

COVID cases have been rising though in Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Odisha, Punjab, Assam, Jammu & Kashmir, Goa, Himachal Pradesh, Puducherry, Manipur, Meghalaya, Tripura, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh, Bhushan added.

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A total of 26 states still have a positivity rate of more than 15 per cent though active caseload has declined by 30,016 for the first time in two months. The national recovery rate is 82.75% and the national mortality rate currently stands at 1.09%.

More than 18 crore free vaccine doses have been provided to states and Union territories so far, said Bhushan. More than 90 lakh doses are still available with states/UTs. An additional 7 lakh doses will be received by states/UTs in the next 3 days, he added.