India recorded 54,044 new Covid-19 infections in the last 24 hours, pushing the total tally to 7,651,107. Also with 717 deaths, India has continued to record high recoveries across the country. On Tuesday, 46,790 new cases and 587 deaths were registered in the country. According to the health ministry’s data, the active number of coronavirus cases stands at 7,400,90 and over 67 lakh people have recovered so far.
Since the last week of September, Covid-19 patients on Oxygen support such as in ICUs, ventilation, and oxygen-supported beds have shown a decrease which is in line with the national decline of active cases to less than 10 per cent of the total cases.
The health ministry said, “The Centre’s focussed and comprehensive strategies have resulted in enhanced medical infrastructure, use of oxygen as part of the Standard Treatment Protocol for clinical management of patients, and extensive arrangements of oxygen supply across the country.”
“There was no shortage of medical oxygen in the last 10 months and won’t be any in future also. However, we have always believed in a proactive and graded response to the pandemic and therefore taken proactive steps to augment the oxygen supply,” health secretary Rajesh Bhushan said on Tuesday, announcing the installation of oxygen generation plants in 246 hospitals in the country.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his address to the nation on Tuesday evening said though the lockdown might have been lifted in the country the “virus is still out there” and the danger is not yet over. The Prime Minister also spoke about the repeated warnings by experts that with all economic activities have returned to normal, the festival season may result in a surge of infections. He also mentioned that the battle against the virus will not be over until we have the vaccine.
COVID-19 latest updates:
# As the next sowing season is up, small scale farmers Madhya Pradesh need money to cover the costs, and due to COVID, they are forced to sell their yield to local traders as they are unable to get loans as moneylenders are charging high interests.
# Industrialist Anand Mahindra has encouraged people to “be stubborn” and continue wearing masks and maintain social distancing as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to remain.
# The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has said that 9,72,00,379 samples were tested for COVID-19 in the country till yesterday, October 20. Of these, 10,83,608 were tested yesterday.
# The Union Health Ministry, the death toll in India due to COVID-19 has risen to 1,15,914.
# India’s 5 worst-affected states, according to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (includes recoveries, deaths and active cases).
- Maharashtra: 16,09,516
- Andhra Pradesh: 7,89,553
- Karnataka: 7,76,901
- Tamil Nadu: 6,94,030
- Uttar Pradesh: 4,59,154
# West Bengal COVID-19 tally reached 3.29 lakh yesterday, October 20 after the state reported a record spike of 4,029 new cases. The death toll rose to 6,180 as 61 more people lost their lives due to the infection. Bengal currently has 35,170 active cases, while 2.87 lakh patients have recovered from the disease. The state’s recovery rate now stands at 87.43 per cent.
# Mumbai reported 1,090 new COVID-19 cases on Monday, October 20. According to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), the city has 2.44 lakh cases. The death toll in the city due to COVID-19 reached 9,821 with 45 fresh fatalities. Mumbai has 18,444 active coronavirus cases at present.
Also Read: 50 % Indian population may have had COVID-19 infection by February 2021, predicts govt panel
# Telangana reported 5 deaths and 1,579 new Covid-19 cases today. Of them, 256 were recorded in the Greater Hyderabad municipal corporation region and 1,323 in districts. Total no of cases mounts to 2,26,124 of which 20,449 are active. 1,811 discharged and 41,475 samples tested today.
# At least 15 more people have tested positive for COVID-19 in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, taking the tally in the Union Territory to 4,141, whereas the number of COVID-19 recoveries in Arunachal Pradesh has surpassed fresh cases on Wednesday, with 255 people recovering from the virus even though 135 more people tested positive for the virus. The state now has the tally to 13,778 COVID-19 cases.