Biggest jump: 37 deaths, 896 cases in 24 hours

New Delhi: India on Friday reported 6,761 Covid-19 cases with the death toll climbing to 206 in the country. In the last 24 hours, 37 deaths have been reported and 896 new infections, the largest ever increase in single day cases.

This is not only the largest ever single-day spike in the number of Covid-19 patients, it is also the highest number of deaths reported in 24 hours.

Out of the total 6,761 Covid-19 cases, 6039 are active cases and 516 have been either cured, discharged from hospitals or have migrated, the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said.

On Friday, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) asked the Centre to inform it within two weeks the arrangements that are being made for mentally ill people roaming on the streets during the nationwide lockdown.

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) said that shipments of serological test kits have not arrived in the country yet and at least five deadlines have been missed, according to CNN-News18 report. "We have no option but to do RT-PCR tests in clusters instead of rapid testing," they added, in a setback for rapid testing.

Despite this steep rise in numbers, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) data suggest the rate of positive cases is between 3-5% from the samples tested so far.

Although, the pattern emerging from the Indian Council of Medical Research, which has tested a total 1.3 Lakh samples over one-and-a-half months, suggests the rate of positive cases has ranged between 3-5 per cent. The government has also significantly increased the number of tests per day, in association with private labs, as it has also identified hotspots and high-risk zones.

A study by ICMR indicates patients with severe acute respiratory illness (SARI), who contracted the coronavirus infection, did not have any travel or contact history. ICMR, an important body in the country's fight against the deadly coronavirus infection, concluded 39.2 per cent of COVID-19 cases did not report any history of contact with a known case or international travel.

The ICMR conducted surveillance among SARI patients, as it can help identify the spread and extent of transmission of coronavirus. SARI surveillance was initiated in the early phase of the COVID-19 outbreak in India. The study was also to check the possibility of community transmission of the viral infection.