Madhya Pradesh on Saturday recorded 73 new COVID-19 cases, taking the tally to 2,788, the Directorate of Health Services said.
Six persons were reported dead at hospitals across the State. While two died in Indore, one each died in Hoshangabad and Mandsaur. Two persons died in Ujjain, where the fatality rate touched 18% on the day. So far, 147 persons have been infected in the city and 27 have died.
Meanwhile, 100 persons were discharged from hospitals on recovery. With this, 624, or 22.4%, of all the patients have been discharged in the State.
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Till May 2, at least 16.7% of the tests were conducted before a person infected with the novel coronavirus was identified. So far, 6% of those testing for the illness had tested positive, according to an analysis of the data released through the media bulletin.
Until now, 41,460 of the samples have tested negative, while 2,330 have been rejected. The tests per million in the State stand at 558.6.
At a review meeting, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said there had been a remarkable improvement in the situation. “For the first time, the count of active cases has gone down. Besides, no new cases were detected in Bhopal on the day.”
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In Indore, the hardest-hit city, 32 persons tested positive, while the number of deaths touched 74 on Friday night, said Pravin Jadia, Chief Medical and Health Officer. “Most cases recently have come from older hotspots, which are already contained. So, the situation is under control,” he said.
As for concerns about the immunisation programme, Dr. Jadia said that though it had been temporarily suspended, newborns were still being immunised. “We still have time... If we resume it now, it may lead to crowding at health centres and defeat the very purpose of social distancing,” he said.
Dr. Jadia said at least 50% of the 1,545 people who tested positive were asymptomatic.