NEW DELHI : The number of coronavirus cases in the country shot past the 40,000 mark on Sunday evening as the trajectory of new infections became steeper in the last couple of days, just ahead of several restrictions on movement being lifted for the phase-3 of the nationwide lockdown starting Monday.
This has been the sharpest increase in the number of COVID-19 infections for the country. Though, Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan has maintained that India`s COVID-19 mortality rate of 3.2% is the lowest in the world.
Since the home ministry announced the second extension of the lockdown with significant relaxations on Friday evening, India recorded as many as 4,898 cases in the 48-hour span till Sunday evening.
According to health ministry data, 2,487 fresh infections were recorded from Saturday evening to Sunday evening, taking the total tally of cases to 40,263. The death toll saw the highest single-day spike as fatalities increased to 1,306 after 83 more patients died in the 24 hours, the ministry said.
The number of active Covid-19 patients now stands at 28,070, while 10,886 patients have been discharged or cured from the highly contagious disease. Of the 83 deaths were reported since Saturday evening, 36 were from Maharashtra, 26 from Gujarat, 11 from Madhya Pradesh, three each from Rajasthan and Delhi, two from Telangana and one each from Tamil Nadu and Bihar.
Maharashtra continues to be the hardest-hit state with infections surging to 12,296 after 790 fresh cases and 36 death were reported since Saturday. Virus-related deaths also increased to 521. Gujarat is the second most affected state as it reported 5,055 cases so far, followed by Delhi with 4,122 cases.
While the Centre says that the rise infections is stabilising, the easing of the lockdown will provide a stiff test of India’s handling of the pandemic, as the government balances how to control the spread of the virus with sending Indians back to work.
Nearly two-thirds of the population falls in either the orange or green categories, which will see several curbs being lifted, while a third is in the red zone. All the major metro cities come under the latter category.
Meanwhile, the Indian Army, Indian Air Force and Indian Navy joined hands on Sunday to express their gratitude to the healthcare workers, police, and forces who are battling the COVID-19 pandemic. Synchronised flypasts, lit-up ships and musical tributes by army bands outside hospitals were organised in Delhi, Mumbai, Srinagar, Hyderabad, Itanagar.
As India gears for the third phase of lockdown, several restrictions have been lifted and many states have announced the opening of shops selling non-essential items like clothes, shoes, stationery, paan, cigarettes and liquor from Monday.
(With Agency Inputs ).

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