Muristek
New Delhi, April 18
As India witnessed a nearly 90 per cent spike in daily Covid cases over Sunday and a 165 per cent rise in the positivity in the last 24 hours, the Centre shot off a letter to Kerala flagging delayed reporting of cases by the state.
India saw daily Covid cases surging from 1,150 on Sunday to 2,183 today; daily positivity rising from 0.31 per cent on Sunday to 0.83 per cent today, and daily deaths shooting up from four on Sunday to 214 today.
2,183 fresh cases
TOTAL DEATHS 5,21,965
ACTIVE CASES 11,542
214 deaths in 24 hours
"It has been observed that Kerala has reported state-level Covid data after a gap of five days (since April 13). This has impacted and skewed the status of India's key monitoring indicators such as cases, deaths, and positivity. India has reported a 90 per cent increase in new cases and 165 per cent increase in positivity in a single day," Health Ministry Joint Secretary Lav Agarwal wrote to his Kerala counterpart today.
On March 23, the ministry had written to states about evidence-based decision-making and a strategic framework to follow Covid management.
"There is need for continued intensive monitoring at state- and district-level to detect emerging challenges and undertake suitable steps for management of Covid. The ministry has regularly emphasised the need for a robust reporting mechanism of state-wise cases and deaths on a daily basis," Agarwal said in the letter to Kerala.
Kerala had last reported new Covid cases on April 13. The data shared was 298 cases. Subsequently, the state shared daily infection data today and said it had witnessed 940 cases in the last 24 hours.
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