According to the Union health ministry’s update at 8 a.m. on Thursday, India had 54,069 cases and 1,321 deaths due to the coronavirus disease (Covid-19), bringing the total number of cases and deaths to 30,082, 778 and 391,981 respectively. According to the health ministry update, total recoveries have risen to 29,063,740 after 68,885 people were discharged from the hospital in the last 24 hours. For the 42nd day in a row, daily recoveries continue to outnumber new infections.
The number of active cases has decreased to 627,057, accounting for 2.14 percent of the total caseload.
The number of cases recorded on Thursday is 3,221 more than on Wednesday, when 50,848 were recorded. On Thursday, however, there were 37 fewer deaths than on Wednesday, when 1,358 people died from the virus.
Even though the daily cases and deaths in India are ebbing, the country is now grappling with an increased spread of the Delta Plus variant, also known as ‘AY.1’ variant or B.1.617.2.1.
Forty cases of the variant have been reported in India so far. The Union health ministry said on Wednesday that the variant has been “observed sporadically” in Maharashtra, Kerala and Madhya Pradesh. Apart from these, Jammu and Kashmir and the southern states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu have also reported cases of the AY.1 variant.
Rajesh Bhushan, the health secretary, wrote a letter to the chief secretaries of Maharashtra, Kerala, and Madhya Pradesh, requesting that immediate containment measures be implemented. The Delta plus variant has been found in Madhya Pradesh’s Bhopal and Shivpuri districts, Maharashtra’s Ratnagiri and Jalgaon districts, and Kerala’s Palakkad and Pathanamthitta districts, according to Bhushan.
In the letter, the health secretary said, “You are requested to take immediate containment measures in these districts and clusters, including preventing crowds and intermingling of people, widespread testing, prompt tracing, and vaccine coverage on a priority basis.”
