As many as 62 districts in India still have a high coronavirus disease (Covid-19) infection rate, joint secretary of the Union ministry of health and family welfare Lav Agarwal said on Thursday at a press briefing.
These districts are from a total of 15 states and Union territories, including in Kerala and Maharashtra — two of the five states that are contributing to most of the fresh cases in the country.
According to data by the Union health ministry, 23 districts have a weekly positivity rate between 5% and 10%, while there are 34 districts where the rate is more than 10%.
Of the 23 districts, as many as seven are from Arunachal Pradesh, followed by five in Assam, and three each in Himachal Pradesh and Manipur, among others. One of these 23 districts is Kolkata, capital of West Bengal, and Kasaragod in Kerala.
“It is important to understand that the fear of infection still persists in the country,” he noted during the press briefing, adding that to a large extent and in several regions of India, it is being presumed that the dip in active case count means “Covid-19 is over.”
Agarwal cautioned against showing any laxity, and said that there are “not one or two but many states,” which still have a high weekly case positivity rate.
During the press briefing, the Centre emphasised that although India’s declining Covid-19 graph may “give comfort,” the challenge is not over yet.
“While weekly positivity was 21.48% during the second wave, it is now 1.68%,” Agarwal said, adding that citizens need to remain alert during October, November and December.
India on Thursday reported 22,431 fresh Covid-19 cases, taking the overall tally of the country to 3,38,94,312, according to data by the Union health ministry’s bulletin. With 24,602 new recoveries lodged, the number of recovered patients stands at 3,32,00,258. The recovery rate stands at 97.95% – the highest since the pandemic struck the country. The weekly positivity rate for the overall Covid-19 cases tally stands at 1.68%, remaining below 3% for the past 104 days. On the other hand, the death toll stands at 449,856 with the addition of 318 fresh fatalities on Thursday.
Meanwhile, the nationwide vaccination coverage against Covid-19 has surpassed the 92-crore mark, and is nearing the 1 billion target that the Centre has its eyes on. According to the CoWin portal, more than 47 lakh people have been administered Covid-19 vaccines on Thursday till the time of writing this report.
