48 pc COVID deaths in 25 districts; Ludhiana among these

Aditi Tandon

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, October 6

Ludhiana is among the 25 districts in India that account for nearly half of all current COVID-19 deaths. 

Health Ministry today said that out of 1,03,569 COVID deaths nationally, 48 per cent are in 25 districts across eight states, including Ludhiana in Punjab. 

Of the 25 districts, 15 districts are in Maharashtra, two each in Karnataka, West Bengal, Gujarat and one each in Punjab, Tamil Nadu, UP and Andhra Pradesh.

These 25 high burden districts as far as fatalities go are Mumbai, Pune, Thane, Chennai, Bengaluru Urban, Nagpur, Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Kolhapur, Nashik, Sangli, Mumbai Suburban, Raigad, Satara, Jalagaon, Solapur, 24 Paraganas North, Aurangabad, Musuru, Surat, Ludhiana, Palghar, Ahmednagar and Chittoor.

Sharpest month-long drop in daily COVID cases, Ludhiana is among 25 high death districts.

Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan today said daily new cases in India were on a clear decline starting the September 2 week which saw 84,179 cases. September 30 to October 6 week has seen 77,113 average new cases on a weekly basis.

Asked if India had hit the COVID peak, Bhushan said predicting a peak was not the right thing to do from a public health perspective as it could lead to complacency in people which would then trigger a surge.

“We see declining trends in new cases. What we also need to remember is that Kerala has seen the highest surge in daily new cases starting September 8 week when it saw 22,133 cases which rose to 84,958 cases as of the latest week. This surge in Kerala is linked to Onam,” Bhushan said as the festive season approaches along with winters providing fertile ground for respiratory viruses to flourish unless people religiously practise COVID appropriate behaviour.

India today saw the sharpest month long decline in daily new COVID cases with 61,267 infections over 24 hours as against an average of 90,000 plus seen through September first week. 

Total COVID 19 load reached 66,85,082 with recoveries surpassing 54 lakh, the highest in the world.

India’s active cases are 9,19,023 as of today and have remained below 10 lakh for two weeks starting September 23 in positive signs for disease management. 

India’s average daily positivity on a weekly basis has also dropped from 8.28 pc starting September 2 to 6.82 pc now.

More than half of all active cases are in Maharashtra, Karnataka and Kerala.