Vardhan: Doubling time of Covid cases now 12.2 days

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Slight fall in daily cases, doubling rate betters to 12.2 days

Flags high tobacco use in Ladakh; India’s per day testing capacity now 1 lakh

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 12

In some respite to the government today, daily new Covid cases fell to 3,604 as against 4,213 yesterday even as the national disease load peaked to 70,756 cases with 2,293 deaths and 22,454 recoveries.

Health Minster Harsh Vardhan while congratulating nurses on the occasion of International Nurses Day said the case doubling rate in India as of three day trends had bettered to 12.2 days. In the last 24 hours, 1,538 patients had been cured.

“While the doubling time in 14 days was 10.9 days, it has improved to 12.2 days in the last three days. Fatality rate is stable at 3.2 per cent and recovery rate has risen to 31.74 per cent. As of yesterday there were 2.37 per cent active Covid patients in ICU, 0.41 per cent on ventilators and 1.82 per cent on oxygen support,” Vardhan said, adding that India’s per day testing capacity was one lakh tests and so far 17, 62,840 tests have been done. Yesterday 86,191 samples were tested, Vardhan said.

The minister also held a high-level Covid review meeting with GC Murmu, Lieutenant Governor of the UT of Jammu and Kashmir, RK Mathur, LG of UT of Ladakh, Uttarakhand CM Trivendra Singh Rawat and Himachal CM Jai Ram Thakur.

Vardhan asked states to focus on effective surveillance, contact tracing, adequate testing and timely treatment of all returnees, including migrants. States were also told to ramp up surveillance for severe acute respiratory infections and influenza like illness in affected and non-affected districts to study the spread of Covid in the community.

Vardhan however flagged concerns over high tobacco use in Ladakh asking the UT to ban spitting in public places.