New Delhi:
COVID-19 death toll rises to 109, number of cases to 4,067: Health MinistryNew Delhi, Apr 6 (PTI) The death toll due to novel coronavirus rose to 109 and the number of cases in the country climbed to 4,067 on Monday, according to the Union Health Ministry,
While the number of active COVID-19 cases stands at 3,666, as many as 291 people were cured and discharged, and one has migrated, it stated. The total number of cases include 65 foreign nationals.
India is between Stage 2 and 3 of coronavirus pandemic with large number of cases being found in particular areas, the Union Health Ministry said on Monday concurring with the AIIMS Director's remarks that localised community transmission is being observed in some pockets of the country.
AIIMS Director Dr Randeep Guleria, who is also a member of a Task Force on COVID-19, on Monday reportedly said that "localised community transmission" has been seen in some pockets and that India is between Stage 2 (local transmission) and Stage 3.
Asked about Guleria's remarks, Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Health Lav Agarwal said, "What the AIIMS Director has said is not in variance with what we have been explaining to you."
Explaining further, Agarwal said that they go for a cluster containment strategy when limited cases are reported from a particular area while the government's action and intervention gets intensified when larger number of cases are reported.
"We tell you every time that if there will be a community transmission we will be the first one to tell you so that everyone gets alert. If we go by the wordings (of AIIMS Director), he said localised community transmission, which implies larger number of cases are being found in a particular area," the official said.
"We are in between Stage 2 and 3 and that implies that our efforts and actions should be focused on ensuring we do not shift to stage 3," the joint secretary said, adding there are clear defined strategies for containment in areas reporting larger number of cases and the government was working according to that.
In Stage 2, disease transmission is limited to those with travel history to affected countries or those in contact with the infected persons.
Community transmission or Stage 3 means a patient was infected though he had no known contact with another confirmed case of COVID-19 or travelled from a country affected by the pandemic.
According to the ministry's data updated at 9 am, 21 fresh deaths were reported from Maharashtra, two each from Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu and one from Punjab
Maharashtra has reported the most coronavirus deaths at 45, followed by Gujarat at 11, Madhya Pradesh at nine, Telangana and Delhi at seven each, Tamil Nadu at five and Punjab at six.
Among the new cases, 19 were reported from Pune city, 11 from Mumbai and one each from Satara, Ahmednagar and Vasai (in Palghar district), said a government official.
"The state health department on Monday received reports of 33 people testing positive for coronavirus. With this, the state tally increased to 781, he said.
Wockhardt Hospital in Mumbai has been turned into a containment zone after as many as 26 nurses and 3 doctors tested positive for the novel coronavirus infections. These cases came to light from tests conducted over a period of one week.
A 60-year-old woman from Pune who tested negative for Covid-19 died three days after being discharged. Her sample on Sunday tested positive.
The state has so far reported 45 deaths due to the viral disease.
Karnataka has reported four deaths, while West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh have recorded three fatalities each. Two deaths each have been reported from Jammu and Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh, and Kerala. Bihar, Himachal Pradesh and Haryana have reported one fatality each, according to the data
The highest number of confirmed cases is from Maharashtra at 690, followed by Tamil Nadu at 571 and Delhi at 503. The number cases in Telengana has gone up to 321, in Kerala to 314 and in Rajasthan to 253
There are 227 COVID-19 cases in Uttar Pradesh, 226 in Andhra Pradesh, 165 in Madhya Pradesh, 151 in Karnataka and 122 in Gujarat
Jammu and Kashmir has reported 106 cases, Haryana 84, West Bengal 80 and Punjab 68. Thirty people are afflicted with COVID-19 in Bihar, while Assam and Uttarakhand have reported 26 novel coronavirus cases each
Odisha has 21 positive cases, Chandigarh 18, Ladakh 14 and Himachal Pradesh 13. Ten cases have been reported from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, while Chhattisgarh has nine cases of the infection. Goa has reported seven COVID-19 cases, followed by Puducherry with five cases, Jharkhand three and Manipur two cases. Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh have reported one infection each
"State-wise distribution is subject to further verification and reconciliation," the Health Ministry said on its website.