According to health ministry Joint Secretary Lav Agarwal, eight states in the country have more than 1 lakh active cases, nine states have between 50,000 and 1 lakh active cases, and 19 states have less than 50,000 active cases.
Since mid-February, India has seen a steady upward pattern in weekly Covid-19 tests, with average daily tests by 2.3 times in the last 12 weeks, according to the health ministry.
It added that after a 10-week period of a steady rise in Covid-19 case positivity, a decrease has been registered in the last two weeks.
According to the health ministry, the number of districts showing a decrease in case positivity went up from 210 in April 29-May 5 to 303 in May 13-19. It also stated that seven states have a case positivity rate of more than 25%, and 22 states have a case positivity rate of more than 15%.
“A decline in cases and positivity has been observed in Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, and Jharkhand in the last three weeks,” he said.
In the last three weeks, he said, Tamil Nadu, Meghalaya, Tripura, Manipur, Nagaland, Sikkim, and Mizoram have seen an increase in cases and positivity.
Agarwal went on to say that for the past three weeks, there has been a declining trend in cases in 89 districts and a decreasing trend in case positivity in 123 districts, according to Agarwal.
To prevent the transmission of illness, the health ministry insisted on maintaining social distancing and the use of masks.
The government’s target, according to Dr. Balram Bhargava of the ICMR, is to conduct 25 lakh tests by the end of this month and 45 lakh tests by the end of June. He added that more Rapid Antigen Tests should be done because you can get results rapidly and then isolate the patient quickly.
The Union Health Ministry has also advised states and union territories to make black fungus, also known as mucormycosis, a notifiable disease under the Epidemic Diseases Act of 1897, citing the infection’s long-term morbidity and mortality among Covid-19 patients.
In a letter, the ministry stated that a new threat in the form of a fungal infection known as mucormycosis has emerged in recent times and has been identified in several states among COVID-19 patients, especially those on steroid therapy and with deranged sugar regulation.
