India records largest single-day spike of 1,752 cases; toll hits 723

MHA terms situation in Chennai, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad and Surat ‘serious’

25/04/2020, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT,NEW DELHI

Over nine lakh persons are under active COVID-19 surveillance in India, the Union Health Ministry said on Friday, as the total number of cases reached 23,452. The death toll stood at 723.

The country registered another biggest single-day spike with over 1,752 positive COVID cases since Thursday. India currently has 17,915 active cases, while 4,813 people have recovered, which puts the recovery rate at 20.57%, Joint Secretary in the Health Ministry Lav Agarwal said.

Separately, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), in a statement, said the situation in emerging and major hotspots, including Ahmedabad, Surat, Hyderabad and Chennai, is serious. The statement added that violations of lockdown measures reported in some parts of the country pose a serious health hazard to the public and may lead to the spread of COVID-19.

Speaking at the daily press briefing, Joint Secretary in the MHA Punya Salila Srivastva noted that the Centre has sent five new Inter-Ministerial Central Teams (IMCTs) to Gujarat, Telangana and Tamil Nadu to assess the situation.

IMCTs are already in Mumbai and Pune in Maharashtra, Indore in Madhya Pradesh, Jaipur in Rajasthan and Kolkata and Jalpaiguri in West Bengal.

According to reports from the State Health Departments, the total number of cases in the country stood at 24, 485, with 18,257 active cases. The nationwide death toll was 781, an increase of 62 fatalities since Thursday.

The Health Ministry said there were 15 districts that have not reported any fresh case since the past 28 days. These include three new districts — Durg and Rajnandgaon in Chattisgarh and Shivpuri in Madhya Pradesh. “Further, 80 districts from 23 States/UTs have not reported any new cases since the last 14 days,” Mr. Agarwal said.

Reiterating that the lockdown had helped India keep its COVID-19 numbers low, Chairman of the Empowered Group-1, V.K. Paul, noted that this “big decision has proved to be very timely and beneficial.”