DN&V Correspondent
New Delhi, May 01 Covid-19 cases in India crossed 1,800 for only the second time, but short of Tuesday’s peak of 1,840, while the death toll stayed above 70 for the second straight day. With 583 fresh cases, Maharashtra now has recorded over 10,000 infections. The state’s tally stood at 10,498, roughly equal to the next three states put together — Gujarat (4,395), Delhi (3,515) and Rajasthan (2,625). The numbers, however, surged in Punjab (162), Tamil Nadu (161) and Rajasthan (146). It was a new daily high for Punjab, having reported just 34 cases on Wednesday. The spike was due to as many as 142 pilgrims, who had returned from Nanded, testing positive.
Now, the Herculean challenge of handling the logistics of registering, screening, transporting and quarantining stranded migrant workers, students and others appears to be weighing on down states, notably Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. Bihar deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi demanded that the Centre run special trains to ferry them, saying the state government couldn’t arrange transport on its own to bring back 2.7 million migrants from Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra. And in UP, which is expecting between 1-1.5 million migrants to return, CM Yogi Adityanath appealed to those stranded in various states not to start walking back.
More than half of the total Covid-19 deaths in India are among those aged above 60 years, while those between 60-75 are most vulnerable, accounting for 42% of total fatalities, latest data from the health ministry showed. Though less at risk, those between 45-60 accounted for 34% deaths due to the disease. Patients with comorbidities like diabetes, heart disorders and chronic kidney ailments accounted for 78% of total deaths. On the brighter side, the recovery rate among patients improved to 25.19% on Thursday, an increase over the 13.06% a fortnight ago.
Russian PM Mikhail Mishustin tested positive for the new coronavirus, as the case count in the country topped 100,000 with a death toll over 1,000. South Korea, on the other hand, reported no new domestic coronavirus cases for the first time since February. Also, US scientists hailed a potential breakthrough after a clinical trial of the antiviral drug remdesivir showed that patients recovered about 30% faster than those on a placebo.
