New Delhi: The total number of coronavirus cases in India has risen to 1,834, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said late on Wednesday night. These figures include 41 deaths and 144 patients who have been cured or discharged.
The ministry said 437 new cases have been reported in the last 24 hours, which is the biggest spike till date.
However, earlier in the day the ministry said the spike does not represent a "national trend" and was caused primarily due to travel by those who had attended the Tablighi Jamaat congregation in Delhi's Nizamuddin area.
"I want to highlight that the rise in the number of positive cases does not represent a national trend, but if there will be a failure anywhere, obviously cases will rise," said Joint Secretary in the Health Ministry Lav Agarwal earlier on Wednesday when 386 new positive cases were reported in the last 24 hours. Agarwal urged people to follow the guidelines of social distancing and lockdown and avoid congregations and religious gatherings.
Agarwal said more than 150 new positive cases of the disease have been reported due to the transit-related history of those who attended the Tablighi Jamaat congregation. All the states concerned have been notified and asked to carry out intensive drives of rigorous contact tracing and testing besides sending those with symptoms to quarantine or isolation facilities or hospitals, he said.
Agarwal said around 1,800 people in Delhi connected with the congregation have been shifted to nine quarantine centres and hospitals.
Giving details about the necessary arrangements being made by the government to tackle the coronavirus pandemic, Agarwal said the Indian railways is preparing to set up 3.2 lakh isolation and quarantine beds by modifying 20,000 train coaches. Modification of 5,000 coaches for the purpose has already begun, he said.
Agarwal said that 'lifeline' flights have also been launched by the Civil Aviation ministry to transport testing kits, medicines, masks and other essentials commodities, adding 15.4 tonnes of medical supplies have been transported by these flights in the last five days.
Raman R Gangakhedkar, head of Epidemiology and Communicable Diseases at the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), there are 126 labs in its network. "The testing capacity utilisation is about 38% as of now," he said, adding 51 private labs have also been given approval to conduct tests for coronavirus infection and 861 people were tested at these facilities on Monday.
(With inputs from PTI)
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