NEW DELHI: Kerala continued to be the major hotspot for coronavirus spread with a whopping 32 new cases being reported on Monday. Another big spike in cases came from Uttar Pradesh, which reported 16 fresh infections. Karnataka reported five new cases. While reports pegged the total number of cases reported nationally to have crossed 1,200, the Union health ministry’s bulletin released at 10.30 am put the total number of confirmed cases at 1,071.
In Kerala, the worst-hit Kasaragod district reported 17 new cases on Monday, Kannur added 11, while Wayanad and Idukki reported two each. Of the 32 new infections, 17 are imported cases and 15 their direct contacts, the state government said.
The state also brought good news as an elderly couple aged 93 and 88, recovered after spending almost a month in the Kottayam Government Medical College.
The virus took 12 days to jump from 100 cases to 1,000 in India. However, India has not reached the community transmission stage, according to the Union health ministry. Officials pointed out the rate of increase in India has been slower than some of the developed nations.
“Technically, Covid-19 is still in the local transmission stage as there has been no community transmission as of now,” said Health Ministry Joint Secretary Lav Agarwal.
Raman R Gangakhedkar, chief epidemiologist at ICMR, said 38,442 tests have been conducted till now, out of which 3,501 were done on Sunday. He said 47 private laboratories were given approval for tests.
25 fresh cases in Delhi
The total number of coronavirus cases in the national capital rose to 97 on Monday, with 25 fresh cases being reported in a day, the Delhi Health Department said