Coronavirus cases in India have been rising at an alarming rate over the past two weeks, with an average of 6,000 people testing positive for the deadly Covid-19 virus that broke out over five months ago.
As per the latest bulletin released by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, there has been a rise of 6,535 cases and 146 deaths in the past 24 hours. The total number of cases in India has now crossed 145,000.
“A total of 145,380 positive cases have so far been reported in the country, which includes 80,722 active cases, 60,490 who have been cured/discharged and 4,167 deaths,” the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said on Tuesday.
Maharashtra continues to record the highest number of cases (52667), followed by Tamil Nadu (17082), Gujarat (14460), Delhi (14053), Rajasthan (7300), Madhya Pradesh (6859) and Uttar Pradesh (6532).
India has been witnessing a steady rise in coronavirus cases even after the country has been placed under lockdown. The frightening rise in cases has come at a time when the central government has relaxed lockdown norms, permitting staggered movement of people and functioning of businesses to restart the stagnant economy.
All India Institute of Medical Sciences Director, Dr Randeep Guleria, has earlier this month categorically stated that Covid-19 cases in India would peak around June-July. This has increased concern levels among people as theories of the virus dying in hot conditions continue to get debunked.
The arrival of rapid testing kits and subsequent additions to testing facilities could also be one of the reasons why more and more cases are being reported with each passing day. India, with a population of 1.35 billion people, stands a high chance of being one of the worst-affected nations in the world.
The global tally of coronavirus cases crossed 5.5 million cases on Tuesday, with the overall casualty figure lurching at a staggering 347,903. The United States is the worst affected of the lot as more than 1.7 million people in the county have been infected by the virus and close to 1 million have lost their lives so far.