Corona Updates You Must Track: COVID-19 Recoveries Overtake Active Cases, Mumbai Crosses Wuhan Tally

While India’s fight with COVID-19 continues, the number of recoveries has overtaken active cases in possibly the first time since the 24 March midnight lockdown. India’s coronavirus count stood at 2.76 lakh on Wednesday morning with Maharashtra, Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and West Bengal recording highest number of active cases. A meeting on Tuesday to assess if Delhi, which has seen a huge spike in cases over the last few weeks now, has reached the community transmission level decided in negative.    

Track all the important updates on coronavirus and lockdown/unlock measures here:

Is Delhi witnessing community transmission? The answer to this question remained elusive as Delhi’s Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia told the media on Tuesday that central government officials have said that community transmission of the virus has not happened yet. Sisodia’s remarks came after his meeting with Delhi Disaster Management Authority which was chaired by Delhi L-G Anil Baijal.

Community transmission is the stage 3 of the infection spread when it becomes difficult to trace the source of the infection in a COVID-19 patient. Delhi’s Health Minister Satyendar Jain was quoted by NDTV as saying, “In 50 per cent of the cases in Delhi, the source of infection is not known.” 

Sisodia also estimated that given the doubling rate of the infection in the capital (12-13 days), Delhi could see 5.5 lakh coronavirus cases by the end of July. On Wednesday morning, Delhi’s COVID-19 tally stood at 31,309 with 18,543 active cases, 11,861 recoveries and 905 deaths.

India cases and toll: India’s coronavirus count continues to climb with 9,985 fresh cases being reported in the last 24 hours. Of India’s 2.76 lakh total confirmed cases, 1.33 lakh are active, 1.35 lakh recoveries and 7,745 deaths, according to the data provided by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. In the last 24 hours, 279 deaths were recorded across the country due to the virus or co-morbidities. However, in a positive sign, the number of recoveries is more than the number of active cases, possibly a first since the lockdown in March.

How is Mumbai faring: The financial nerve centre of the country has also been the centre of India’s COVID-19 battle. In terms of total cases reported so far, Mumbai with 51,100 cases has crossed Wuhan’s tally (50,333), the epicentre of the epidemic in China. However, the doubling time for the infection has improved from 11 days in the last week of May to 23 days now, The Economic Times reported. Most health experts believe that Mumbai could be the first city to reach the peak and then see a downward trend in growth of fresh cases, as seen in big cities across the world. 

WHO’s flip-flop on asymptomatic carriers: The World Health Organization (WHO), which is already under intense scrutiny over allegations of a delayed response to the pandemic, courted controversy yet again this week. On Monday, WHO’s technical lead on the COVID-19 pandemic Maria Van Kerkhove said that countries that are conducting rigorous contact tracing are finding that transmission of COVID-19 from asymptomatic carriers is “very rare”. Following an outrage over the statement, Kerkhove on Tuesday clarified that the actual rates of transmission from asymptomatic patients are not yet fully known. She, however, did say that some modelling studies estimate that up to 40 per cent of infections could be transmitted by asymptomatic patients.   

Global corona update: With the number of coronavirus cases stabilizing in Europe, countries like Austria and Slovenia have started opening their borders for travel to and from neighbouring countries. The UK, which has reported maximum COVID-19 deaths after the US, on Monday reported its lowest daily death toll of 55, ever since the country went into a lockdown in March.

Meanwhile, the global coronavirus count continues to surge. A total of 71.18 lakh confirmed cases have been reported so far, with 36.02 lakh recoveries and 4.13 lakh deaths, according to worldometer, a website that tracks COVID-19 data globally. Among Asian countries, Indonesia recorded its single-biggest daily surge in COVID-19 cases on Tuesday—1,043 fresh cases were reported, taking the country’s tally to 33,076 confirmed cases.  

Story of hope: When 27-year-old Alina Alam decided to start MITTI Café in 2017, she wanted to build a venture that is truly inclusive. The cafe, which now has 12 outlets across Karnataka and West Bengal, is run and managed by people with disabilities. During the coronavirus pandemic, the café staff has come forward to help the distressed and homeless with food. From 1,000 cooked meals every day in March, the café is now providing 6,000 meals a day and has managed to touch 4.5 lakh lives so far. Read more on this heartwarming and inspirational story here.