In a piece of disturbing news, India recorded more than 30 per cent jump in new cases of coronavirus since Diwali this year, according to the Union Health Ministry.
The data released by the Health Ministry reveals that the country registered 38,617 new cases since Diwali, pushing the cumulative tally to 89,12,907.
The death toll climbed to 1,30,993 while the number of active cases stood at 4,46,805.
However, as many as 83,35,109 people have recovered from the disease so far.
On Tuesday, India reported 29,164 new Covid-19 cases and 449 deaths. The figure of Wednesday is almost 32 per cent more in the single-day spike.
However, the reason could be a rise in the testing as total 9,37,279 samples were tested on Tuesday after a long weekend of testing eight lakh samples on an average, testing data from the Indian Council of Medical Research showed.
The situation of Covid-19 in Delhi-NCR remained grim. The latest surge has left the healthcare system gasping for relief. The hospital, both government and private hospitals have 10 per cent ICU beds with ventilators, which are extremely crucial for patients with severity.
Apart from severe patients, patients with moderate symptoms are made to wait for hours before admission in hospitals. Besides, non-Covid patients are running from pillar to post just to acquire a single hospital bed in the capital city.
The situation has forced the Delhi government to reconsider imposing restrictions it lifted months ago. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has sent a proposal to Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal and the Centre to consider allowing only 50 people to attend weddings and imposing lockdown in market areas which may emerge as hotspots.
Besides, the district administration of Gautam Budh Nagar decided to randomly test commuters going to Noida from Delhi for the coronavirus from Wednesday. The decision has come amid a surge in coronavirus cases in the capital.
Globally, the coronavirus has infected more than 5.55 crore people and killed 13,36,892, according to Johns Hopkins University.
(With agency updates)
