A healthcare worker wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) collects a swab sample from a woman amidst the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), at a wholesale market, in the old quarters of Delhi, India, November 17, 2020. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi
New Delhi, November 19 (IANS): With 45,576 more coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours on Thursday, India witnessed a jump of over 50 per cent in such cases reported on Tuesday, pushing its cumulative tally to 89,58,483.
As per Health Ministry data, the total death toll rose to 1,31,578 with 585 more fatalities in the last 24 hours, a jump of 24 per cent over the previous day's figure.
On Wednesday, India reported 38,616 new cases and 449 deaths, and on Tuesday 29,154 new cases.
The active cases now total 4,43,303 as 83,83,602 people have recovered from the disease so far.
One reason for the daily spike could be increased testing as 10,28,203 samples were tested on Wednesday after a long weekend when eight lakh samples on an average were tested, data from the Indian Council of Medical Research showed.
Meanwhile, the situation of Covid-19 remains grim in the national capital.
The latest surge has left the healthcare system here gasping for relief. The hospitals in Delhi, both government and private hospitals, as of now, are left with only nine per cent ICU beds with ventilators, which are extremely crucial for patients with severe disease, as per the Delhi Corona App.
Apart from severe patients, the patients with moderate symptoms are made to wait hours before admission in the hospitals. Besides, the non-Covid patients are running from pillar to post just to get hospital beds in the capital city.
Meanwhile, citing the proposal sent by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) has decided to reinforce the restrictions on number of guests at marriage-related events to 50. The decision came a day after Kejriwal wrote to Lt Governor Anil Baijal, who is also the Chairperson of the DDMA.