States issue new measures as Assembly polls near amid rising Covid cases

The severity of the COVID-19 outbreak during the third wave is low as compared to the second wave, but fresh cases are being reported across the country. With the elections approaching, it is being speculated that the number of cases would not see a steep downfall anytime soon.

New Delhi:While a senior government official from Tamil Nadu said that the severity of the COVID-19 outbreak during the third wave is low as compared to the second wave, both Covid and Omicron cases in the country have shown some comparative dip across the state. With the elections approaching, it is being speculated that the number of cases would not see a steep downfall anytime soon, though the effect of the third wave is not being felt as strongly as the second one with lesser patients in need of oxygen and lesser fatalities. Meanwhile, the states are issuing newer measures as a part of preventive practices with the closing of schools, weekend curfews and restrictions on public gatherings in some places.

Maharashtra reported 40,805 COVID-19 cases, taking its tally to 75,07,225, while 44 fatalities put the toll at 1,42,115 as of Sunday, as informed by a health department official. Meanwhile, Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope said the decision to reopen schools for primary classes to XII from Monday was taken after complete thought was given to the issue. Schools were shut last month after a spike in COVID-19 cases across the state.

Cases in Delhi on the decline

National capital Delhi on Sunday reported 9,197 fresh Covid cases and 34 deaths, while the positivity rate dropped to 13.32 per cent, according to data shared by the health department. The number of daily cases in Delhi has been declining after touching the record high of 28,867 on January 13. Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain had earlier said that the danger of Covid has subsided in the national capital and the situation is "quite under control". Meanwhile, on Friday, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had proposed lifting the weekend curfew and ending the odd-even rule for opening shops.

Telangana reports drop in numbers

Telangana sees a dip in daily COVID-19 cases. Telangana on Sunday witnessed a dip in daily coronavirus cases, logging 3,603 fresh infections, which pushed the cumulative figure to 7,34,815 while the toll rose to 4,072 with one more fatality. The state registered 4,393 new cases on Saturday.

5-month old baby succumbs to Covid

Meanwhile, a baby as old as 5 days, who had tested positive for coronavirus infection and also suffering from other health issues, died at a hospital in Madhya Pradesh's Gwalior district, an official said.

The COVID-19 tally in Madhya Pradesh reached 8,94,159 on Sunday after the detection of 11,253 cases, while the toll increased to 10,570 with eight deaths reported in the last 24 hours, according to a state health official, further pointing out that the positivity rate was 13.4 per cent for the second consecutive day.

In Himachal Pradesh, two more people succumbed to COVID-19 on Sunday, pushing the death toll to 3,916 while the state recorded 755 new COVID-19 cases as the infection tally rose to 2,60,321, a health official said.

Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday recorded 6,253 fresh COVID-19 cases, taking the infection count to 3,97,202, while seven deaths due to the disease pushed the toll to 4,605, officials said.

Of the fresh cases, 1,754 were from the Jammu division and 4,499 from the Kashmir division of the Union Territory, the officials said.

Rajasthan reported 14,112 fresh COVID-19 cases and 19 more deaths due to the viral disease, according to a health department report. Of the latest deaths, two each were reported from Bikaner, Dausa, Jaipur, Jhalawar, Jhunjhunu and Jodhpur, and one each from Ajmer, Barmer, Bharatpur, Bundi, Kota, Tonk and Udaipur, it said.

Cases spike in Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh reported 14,440 new COVID-19 cases during the last 24 hours, said the state health department on Sunday. With this, the total count of COVID-19 cases in the state has gone up to 21,80,634. Meanwhile, Karnataka reported 50,210 new COVID-19 cases, of which 26,299 were from the state's capital Bengaluru, Health Minister K Sudhakar informed on Sunday.

West Bengal's COVID-19 tally rose to 19,65,245 on Sunday as 6,980 people tested positive for the infection, 2,211 less than the previous day, a health bulletin said. Thirty-six fresh fatalities pushed the state's coronavirus death toll to 20,338. Kolkata reported the highest number of 973 new cases, closely followed by 960 in neighbouring North 24 Parganas district.

Nagaland on the other hand, reported 107 new COVID-19 cases, 14 less than the previous day, pushing the tally to 33,585, a health official said. The death toll remained unchanged at 705 for the second consecutive day, he said. The COVID-19 recovery rate came down to 91.89 per cent from Saturday's 92.02 per cent.

Tripura's COVID-19 caseload rose to 97,933 on Sunday as 557 more people tested positive for the infection, 397 less than the previous day, an official said. Four fresh fatalities pushed the northeastern state's coronavirus death toll to 865, he said.

Gujarat reported 16,617 new COVID-19 cases, the lowest in the last five days, which raised the tally of infections to 10,62,555, the state health department said. With 19 fatalities, the highest during the ongoing third wave so far in Gujarat, the death toll went up to 10,249.

Record tally in Kerala

Kerala continued to record a daily tally of over 45,000 cases for the second day in a row on Sunday, taking the total number of affected people in the state to 56,20,151. In a bulletin issued late on Sunday, the health department said 45,449 new positive cases were detected in Kerala.

Within the last 24 hours, 3727 new corona patients have been found in Uttarakhand. In such a situation, the number of active cases has increased to 31,310, whereas, 5 corona patients have died. The positivity rate in the state is 15.50%.

Bihar reported 2,768 fresh COVID-19 cases on Sunday, 235 less than the previous day, pushing the tally to 8,11,521, a health department bulletin said. The state had reported 3,003 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday.

Chhattisgarh's COVID-19 count reached 10,95,709 on Sunday with the addition of 3,841 cases, while the toll stood at 13,727 after 11 patients succumbed to the infection, an official said.

The state's positivity rate, which is cases detected per 100 tests, was 14.03 per cent on Sunday, he said.

Thirty more people died of COVID-19 in Punjab while 5,664 fresh coronavirus cases took the infection tally to 7,13,445, according to a medical bulletin issued on Sunday.