As many as 1,095 COVID-19 deaths have been registered in the country in the past 24 hours ending 8 a.m. on October 2, with 83.37% of them being reported from 10 States and U.T.s. The highest 36% of deaths was reported from Maharashtra (394), followed by Karnataka (130), Uttar Pradesh (80), Tamil Nadu (66), West Bengal (59), Punjab (45), Andhra Pradesh (41), Delhi (40), and Kerala and Chhattisgarh (29 each), according to a release issued by the Union Health Ministry on Friday.
The Ministry added that 78.07% of the new cases in the last 24 hours in the country are concentrated in ten States/UTs, with Maharashtra contributing more than 16,000 new cases. Karnataka has contributed around 10,000 cases and Kerala follows with more than 8,000.
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“As on date, the active cases contribute only 14.74% to the positive case load of the country. Maharashtra is leading the States’ tally with more than 2.5 lakh cases, Karnataka follows with more than 1 lakh cases,” said the Ministry.
The Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan, speaking about the pressure that COVID-19 puts on the older population, noted that the emergence of COVID-19 as a public health challenge has caused an upheaval across the country and the world.
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“Government has responded to address the concerns of the elderly by recognising them as a vulnerable population category for COVID efforts, issuing advisories, raising awareness of their special needs, encouraging State governments to develop need-based models for delivery of medications and home-based care to the elderly,”’ he said.
The Ministry added that India has sustained the steady trend of active cases being lower than the 10 lakh mark for 11 days in an unbroken chain.
“The number of active cases on Friday is 9,42,217 with 78,877 recoveries registered in the last 24 hours in the country. India’s total recoveries are 53,52,078 today. The last 10 lakh recoveries were added in just 12 days. With this, India continues to maintain its global position of being the country with the maximum number of recovered COVID patients in the world. 10 States/UTs account for 72% of the newly recovered cases. Maharashtra has the highest number of newly recovered cases followed by Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka,’’ said the Ministry.
The Indian Medical Association (IMA), on Friday, has demanded that the government should work at strengthening public hospitals and come up with a strategy to sustain small and medium hospitals during the ongoing pandemic.
“Reconceive, redesign and restructure Ayushman Bharat is also one of our demands. The response of the Government is not only inadequate, it is totally inappropriate in respect to COVID-19,” the IMA said in its release.
