New Delhi: The country added a huge 83,883 Covid-19 cases over the previous 24 hours, far exceeding all previously recorded daily numbers for any country, even as the government defended its decision to open up various economic activities , saying it firmly believes that “while lives are important, livelihoods are equally important”.
With a record singleday spike of 83,883 infections, India’s Covid-19 caseload mounted to 38,53,406, while the death toll climbed to 67,376 with 1,043 people succumbing to the disease in a day, according to Union Health Ministry data updated at 8 a.m.
Asked why the government is opening up different economic activities when there is a spike in daily positive cases, secretary in the Health Ministry, Rajesh Bhushan, told a press conference: “These numbers have to be seen in the context of the total population of India. We are the second most populous country in the world.”
It is not as if suddenly everything has been opened up, he said and underscored that prior to graded opening of economic activities in the country, the government ensured all prerequisites such as adequate testing capacity, clear-cut guidelines of standard clinical treatment protocol, enhanced hospital infrastructure, adequate intensive care unit beds and beds with oxygen facility.
“At the end of the day, the government firmly believes that while lives are important, livelihoods are equally important,” Bhushan said.
According to the Union Health Ministry data, out of total confirmed cases, 8,15,538 are active cases, while a total of 2,970,492 patients have recovered from the virus so far. With 68,584 recoveries in a day, the recovery rate has increased to 77.09 per cent. India has registered more than 60,000 recoveries each day for the seventh day in a row.
