India Witnesses a Decline in COVID-19 Cases but Experts Caution Against Flouting Safety Norms

Even as the active COVID-19 cases decline continuously in the country the experts ask people to not flout the safety norms, especially during the marriage season as they still remain fragile in catching the infection.

For the third straight day, India reported less than 30,000 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours on Wednesday. According to the latest Health Ministry data, the Active caseload in the country today stands at 3,32,002, pushing the total tally to 99,32,548 till Dec 15. India’s COVID-19 Tally Crosses 99.5 Lakh-Mark With 24,010 New Cases in Past 24 Hours, Death Toll Rises to 1,44,451.

With 387 case fatalities in the past 24 hours, the total death toll in the country now stood at 1,44,096. The continuous decline in Active Cases and rise in recoveries further increased the Recovery Rate to 95.21%. India also registered 33,813 new recoveries in the past 24 hours. Whereas the total number of recoveries now stands at 94,56,449.

But the experts believe, with the decline in the number of COVID-19 cases in the country, people have already started flouting the COVID-19 safety norms and with the marriage season already approached in the country, one can easily see the violation of government released COVID-19 guidelines. Reiterating the adverse effect that could be triggered with the violation of COVID-19 safety norms, Prime Minister Narendra Modi earlier appealed to citizens to follow the social distancing mantra.

Talking about the global coronavirus outbreak, the US, Russia, Japan, Germany, and Turkey have recently reported a sudden surge in the COVID-19 cases. With the Christmas festivities approaching in few days, many European countries have already imposed COVID-19 Christmas rules to cope with the spike in COVID-19 cases.

Tracking Global Coronavirus Outbreak (September vs December):

-Earlier in September, India reported around 85,000 to 97,000 COVID-19 cases daily. Whereas in December the daily reported COVID-19 cases now stand around the 30,000 marks.

-In September around 1,500 cases reported throughout Germany, but now the daily count has reached 28,000 marks in past one week.

-The United States reported around 40,000 daily COVID-19 cases in September compared to two lakh cases per day in December. The US on December 11 reported 2.47 lakh cases.

-The daily COVID-19 cases in Russia swells beyond the 25,000 marks since past one week. Whereas in September the daily count was near to four thousand to five thousand marks.

-The daily covid-19 cases count drastically rised in UK with over fifteen to eighteen thousand cases reported daily compared to around three thousand cases in September.

-Sweden saw a rapid increase in new coronavirus cases in December, daily COVID-19 cases soar around the 6000 marks. Earlier in September Sweden reported 200 to 300 cases daily.

Expert Speak:

Dr. Rajinder DHAMIJA, Head of Department of Lady Hardinge Medical College in conversation with Prasar Bharati said though India is witnessing a consistent decline in active Covid-19 cases and a rise in recoveries, but the exposure to the virus is not going to over anytime soon. The pandemic is still there. One is still fragile in catching the infection.

“One should not think the virus has already been disappeared. While some who may have contracted the virus may show some minor symptoms but it can be fatal for other person. Always keep these three things in mind, If hands are visibly dirty, always wash hands with soap and water, stand at an appropriate distance from others and if not necessary do not venture out,” he added.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 17, 2020 11:22 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).