Half of India under pangs of COVID-19

New Delhi: Nearly three weeks into a 'total lockdown', half of India's 718 districts are affected by the coronavirus pandemic that has infected over 16 lakh people worldwide and killed over 1 lakh.

The highly contagious illness spread to more than 120 new districts in a span of 10 days, according to the Union Health Ministry data.

On March 29, while 160 districts were affected by the pandemic, the number rose to 284 on April 6. More than 364 districts are currently affected by the pandemic in the country.

The rapid spread of the virus is evident in the spurt in cases across the country which doubled in a week's time. From nearly 3,500 patients on April 5 (last Sunday), India has recorded 8,447cases so far, reveals the government data released on Sunday. There were 31 deaths and 918 new positive cases in the last 24 hours. At present, there are 7,409 active COVID-19 cases in the country.

Uttar Pradesh, one of country's most populous states, has the highest number of districts affected (40) followed by Tamil Nadu (33). In Maharashtra, which has recorded the highest number of patients in India, 27 districts are affected, while in Delhi, with over 1,000 COVID-19 patients, 11 districts are affected.

This data was shared on Friday. As the nationwide lockdown, which began on March 25, ends on Tuesday, the government is planning to mark the country's map in three colours - red, orange and green, sources have said. This will help in distinguishing the areas affected by the outbreak and virus-free zones.

Green zones will be districts where there is no COVID-19 case. Orange zones will be places which saw less than 15 cases and there have been no increase in the number of positive cases. Any place which had more than 15 cases will be considered a Red zone, where there will be no activity.

The highest number of positive cases of coronavirus was reported from Maharashtra at 1,761, including 127 deaths, followed by Delhi (1,069 and 19 deaths), Tamil Nadu (969 and 10 deaths) and Rajasthan (700 and 3 deaths). So far, Maharashtra has reported the most coronavirus deaths at 127, followed by Madhya Pradesh at 36, Gujarat at 22 and Delhi at 19.

Telangana has registered 14 deaths, while Punjab reported 11 fatalities and Tamil Nadu 10. Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka have reported six deaths each while West Bengal has registered five deaths.

Jammu and Kashmir and Uttar Pradesh have reported four and five deaths respectively. Haryana and Rajasthan have recorded three deaths each. Two deaths have been reported from Kerala. Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Odisha, Jharkhand and Assam reported one fatality each, according to the health ministry data.

"We had a detailed discussion with the Health Minister and Home Minister according to which we are increasing testing capacity in private and government medical college," said Lav Agarwal, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

"To support this effort, 14 mental institutes have been identified including AIIMS and Nimhans, through which we will increase our testing capacity in government medical colleges," he said.