India went past a bleak milestone on Monday as the number of coronavirus disease (Covid-19) cases crossed 10,000, with the infections doubling over six days and the government expanding containment efforts and ramping up testing in an attempt to curb the highly contagious pathogen from sweeping across the country.
On Monday, 1,253fresh Covid-19 cases were reported in the country. Delhi recorded its biggest daily spike with 356 cases. The national capital has recorded 1,510 cases so far, becoming the city with the most number of infections.Four people died of Covid-19 on Monday, taking the Capital’s death toll to 28.
Until March 24, there were 536 Covid-19 cases in India. The number rose to 2,520 by April 2; 5,305 by April 7; and the latest tally stood at 10,444, according to HT’s dashboard. Of these, 355 people have died of the disease that rages uncontrolled across several nations and has left at least 117,000 dead across the world.
The tally of Covid-19 cases first jumped in India after the detection of hundreds of patients who attended gatherings of the Tablighi Jamaat, a Muslim missionary group, in New Delhi’s Nizamuddin last month. Once the cluster – the largest single source so far in the country – was identified and isolated on March 30, daily cases have surged.
The number of cases in Delhi increased from 72 on March 29 to 1,510so far -- most of the 356 cases reported on Monday appeared to be linked to the Nizamuddin gathering. The Capital reported its first case on March 2, when a 45-year-old who travelled from Italy tested positive. According to officials in the Delhi government, about 1,050of the total cases are attendees of the Nizamuddin event or their contacts.
With the mass identification and isolation of such cases across the country, however, the focus has now shifted to how well the government can contain and localise the infections.
