With the nation under lockdown since March 25, the number of COVID-19 cases in India are doubling every eleven days at the moment, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoFHW) informed on Thursday. The cumulative number of cases due to the novel coronavirus in country were 33,610, as of 5 p.m. Of the total number, 24,162 people are under “active” medical supervision while 8,372 have been cured.
Calling it a “progressive trend”, Lav Agarwal, Joint Secretary, MoHFW, confirmed that the recovery rate for COVID-19 cases in the country is more than 25%; the number currently at 25.19%. With 1,075 people having succumbed to COVID-19 so far, the case mortality rate is at 3.2 per cent in the country.
Meanwhile, with the second phase of nationwide lockdown coming to an end on May 3, mixed reactions from state governments on post-lockdown scenarios have started to emerge.
While, Amarinder Singh-led Punjab government on Wednesday became the first state to extend lockdown for two more weeks, till May 17, but with easing of restrictions for four hours daily in non-containment zones, Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb was reported to have said that the lockdown in his state would continue in some form or the other till a vaccine against COVID-19 is invented.
In another news, the Karnataka government has decided to allow industrial activities across the state barring coronavirus containment zones from May 4, when the second phase of national lockdown is expected to end, news agency PTI quoted Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa as saying on Thursday.
As COVID-19 cases may continue for another two-three months, both economic activities and efforts to control the pandemic have to go hand-in-hand, he said.
