India has reported 670 COVID-19 case fatalities in the past 24 hours, with ten States/UTs accounting for nearly 86% of the cases. More than 38% of the new fatalities reported are from Maharashtra (256 deaths), and Delhi follows with 66 new deaths, noted a release issued by the Health Ministry, on Friday.
“79% of the new cases are from 10 States and UTs. Maharashtra is reporting a very high number of new cases with more than 10,000 cases followed by Kerala with more than 9,000 cases,” added the Ministry.
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As per data released on Friday of the new recovered cases, 80% are concentrated in 10 States/Union Territories, with Maharashtra contributing the maximum number of over 11,000 recoveries in a single day.
“Less than 50,000 new cases have been reported in the country in the last 24 hours whereas the daily new recoveries have exceeded 54,000. India is reporting new recoveries more than the daily new cases successively for the last five weeks now. 54,157 COVID patients have recovered and [been] discharged in the last 24 hours whereas the new confirmed cases presently are pegged at 47,638,” said the Ministry.
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Measles, polio
Meanwhile, UNICEF and the World Health Organization (WHO) have issued an urgent call to action to avert major measles and polio epidemics as COVID-19 continues to disrupt immunisation services worldwide, leaving millions of vulnerable children at heightened risk of preventable childhood diseases.
A release issued by WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said: “COVID-19 has had a devastating effect on health services and in particular immunization services, worldwide. But unlike with COVID, we have the tools and knowledge to stop diseases such as polio and measles. What we need are the resources and commitments to put these tools and knowledge into action. If we do that, children’s lives will be saved.”
“We cannot allow the fight against one deadly disease to cause us to lose ground in the fight against other diseases. Addressing the global COVID-19 pandemic is critical. However, other deadly diseases also threaten the lives of millions of children in some of the poorest areas of the world. That is why today we are urgently calling for global action from country leaders, donors and partners. We need additional financial resources to safely resume vaccination campaigns and prioritize immunization systems that are critical to protect children and avert other epidemics besides COVID-19,’’ noted Henrietta Fore, UNICEF executive director.
