The COVID-19 case tally crossed the 50-lakh mark on Tuesday with the government saying that the number of recoveries in India was amongst the highest in the world and the country learnt from the experience of nations that suffered high mortalities to avoid a “huge peak” in terms of deaths.
The Centre also asserted that there was absolutely “no shortage” of medical oxygen, vital in the treatment of coronavirus, at the national level, while urging states to ensure a proper inventory management at hospital-level and advance planning for timely replenishment so that there is no stockout.
At a press briefing, Director General of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), Dr Balram Bhargava, also said reinfection was “very, very rare” with COVID-19, but it can happen.
Asserting that India has one of the highest number of COVID-19 recoveries, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said there are 14 states and union territories (UTs) in the country where the number of active cases are less than 5,000.
He said there are 18 states and UTs where the total number of active cases are between 5,000 and 50,000, while there are only four states with more than 50,000 active cases.
“India’s COVID-19 recoveries have surged to more than 38.59 lakh, which is one of the highest in the world. According to the Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center, this is the highest number of recoveries in the world,” Bhushan said.
India’s COVID-19 case tally stands at 49,30,236 with 83,809 people testing positive in a day, while 38,59,399 people have recuperated so far taking the national recovery rate to 78.28 per cent on Tuesday, according to Union Health Ministry data.
The death toll climbed to 80,776 with 1,054 people succumbing to the disease in a span of 24 hours, data showed.