The Covid cases in India have crossed 5000, with Kerala being the worst-hit state, according to the data released by the Union Health Ministry on Friday. The cases saw a surge of nearly 500 in a day to tally 5364, with four fresh deaths in the last 24 hours.
Kerala is the worst-hit state with active cases reaching 1679, followed by Gujarat (615), West Bengal (596) and Delhi (592). Kerala reported two deaths, while Karnataka and Punjab saw one casualty each over the last 24 hours. While 498 new cases were added in a day, 764 patients were also cured/discharged/migrated over the last 24 hours.
Amid a rise in Covid cases, the Union Health Ministry has directed all states to ensure the availability of oxygen, isolation beds, ventilators, and essential medicines. Most cases are mild and managed under home care, but the ministry emphasises preparedness to handle potential surges.
In view of the increase in cases, the Centre is conducting mock drills to check facility-level preparedness for Covid. Official sources have maintained that most cases are mild and managed under home care. Since January this year, 4724 cases have been reported, while 55 deaths have been confirmed in the country. There were a total of 257 active patients in the country on May 22.
Notably, a series of technical review meetings were held on June 2 and 3 under chairpersonship of Dr Sunita Sharma, Director General of Health Services (DGHS) with representatives of Disaster Management Cell, Emergency Management Response (EMR) Cell, National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP) and Central Government Hospitals in Delhi and with representatives from all states and UTs to evaluate the current COVID-19 situation and preparedness measures.
Official sources on June 4 said that State and District surveillance units under IDSP are closely monitoring Influenza-Like Illness (ILI) and Severe Acute Respiratory Illness (SARI). "Testing is recommended for all admitted SARI cases and 5 per cent of ILI cases as per guidelines and positive SARI samples are sent for Whole Genome Sequencing through the ICMR VRDL network," an official source had said.
