New Delhi:
India's daily coronavirus cases continue to decline further with 2,40,842 fresh infections, and 3,741 deaths being recorded in the last 24 hours, the Union Health Ministry informed on Sunday.
According to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), the country recorded 3,55,102 fresh recoveries in the 24-hour period, outnumbering new cases.
The cumulative caseload in India now stands at 2,65,30,132 including 28,05,399 active cases. The death toll mounted to 2,99,266, while the recovery tally reached 2,34,25,467. This is the seventh consecutive day when India has recorded less than 3 lakh new cases.
Karnataka, which has recently overtaken Maharashtra in the number of active infections, has now 4,83,204 active infections, making the state worst-hit by the pandemic. Maharashtra follows with 3,52,247 active cases.
As per the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), a total of 32,86,07,937 samples have been tested for COVID-19 up to May 22. Of them, 21,23,782 samples were tested on Saturday.
According to the Union Health Ministry, as many as 19,50,04,184 doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered so far since the commencement of the vaccination drive on January 16.
On Saturday, the MOHFW informed that the daily coronavirus positivity rate has declined to 12.45 per cent while the national recovery rate has improved further to touch 87.76 per cent.
Eight states including Karnataka, Maharashtra, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh account for 69.94 per cent of India's total active infections, it said.
On May 7, with 4,14,188 new COVID-19 cases being registered in the last 24 hours, India reported its highest single-day spike since the pandemic began last year. On May 17, India's daily spike of coronavirus cases remained below the 3 lakh mark for the first time after 26 days.
Since then, the daily new cases in the country have been hovering below the 3-lakh mark.
In the countryside, medical facilities are dilapidated and doctors and nurses are few on the ground, meaning many clinics are run by people who don’t have training.
India has been hard hit by a second wave of coronavirus infections which has overwhelmed its health system, even in big cities.The poor health infrastructure and lack of testing means many patients do not know if they are infected with COVID-19 or just have a cold.
In Indian former hospital worker with no medical education is running a small unlicensed clinic, tending to patients with breathing difficulties and checking their oxygen levels as they lie on cots on the mud floor.In Parsaul village, about 60 km (40 miles) from the capital New Delhi, villager Ashok said people in his area were afraid to step out of their houses. He suspects that coronavirus had killed around 15 people nearby in recent days.
Ashok has come with a patient who had fever to the clinic run by a 52-year-old former hospital assistant who moves from one cot to another to check IV levels. Empty intravenous drips lie piled up under a brick-walled staircase.
"Patients with fever and breathing problems have increased in the last two months," said the former assistant, who said he had been helping patients at his clinic since 1993 but did not wish to be identified as he feared a backlash from authorities.
"The people from nearby six or seven villages know me personally and trust me."