COVID-19 cases in India cross 33,000 mark, recovery rate improves to 25.19%, says Health Ministry

National

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), in its daily media briefing, said the number of coronavirus aka COVID-19 cases has crossed the 33,000 mark and the recovery rate has improved to 25.19%. As per the latest available of the Health Ministry’s website, 23,651 cases are active right now and 8,324 people have been cured. While 1,074 people have lost their lives due to the noval coronavirus.

The Health Ministry spokesperson, Lav Agarwal, said improvement of 13% in the recovery rate (25.13 %) has been noted, which is highest in last 14 days.

The ongoing nationwide lockdown, since March 25, has played a major role in curbing the spread of COVID-19 otherwise the health system would have been crippled, said a health official.

Amitabh Kant, Niti Aayog CEO, said, “Our analysis finds that the rate of growth in positive cases and fatalities has been consistently lower – linear but non-exponential.”

As per Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s earlier announcement, lockdown 2.0 will end on May 3, but it is expected that the government would extend the lockdown beyond May 3. Government sources say restrictions will continue in the worst-hit districts while they may be eased in areas where there are no cases.

The big cities of Delhi, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, and West Bengal have already requested the Center to extend the lockdown for 2 weeks. Punjab’s Captain Amarinder Singh government has already announced a two-week lockdown extension in the state, after PM Modi asked the states to draw future plans.