Shillong, March 29: According to the latest data from the Union Ministry of Health, India recorded 2,151 new Covid-19 cases during past 24 hours amid concerns over a recent spike in infections in the country.
On October 28 last year, there were a total of 2,208 cases of Coronavirus. The statistics updated at 8 am today showed that the number of deaths associated with Covid has risen to a total of 5,30,848. Three new deaths were reported from Maharashtra, one from Karnataka, and three from Kerala.
The weekly positivity was estimated at 1.53%, while the daily positivity was 1.51 percent. 4.47 crore cases of Covid have been reported in total since the start of pandemic. According to the ministry website, the active caseload, which stands at 11,903, makes up 0.03 percent of all infections at this time, while the recovery rate is at 98.78 percent.
The surge in Covid cases has forced officials to review the level of preparedness, and on Monday, Rajesh Bhushan, the Union health secretary, presided over a high-level meeting with states and UTs via video conference. The meeting also included Dr. Rajiv Bahl, Secretary, Department of Health Research. It was decided that there is a need to intensify testing by using whole genome sequencing and an increased percentage of RT-PCR for positive samples.
At a review meeting led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi last week, Bhushan gave an in-depth presentation on the state of the Covid-19 worldwide.