Covid-19 in India Highlights: Active cases climbs to 1,000 mark in India

With fresh COVID cases being reported in Karnataka, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Monday directed authorities to be fully prepared to handle any future situation.

He stressed the importance of preventive measures to curb the spread of the virus in the state and directed officials to ensure the availability of medicines, medical equipment and facilities for any potential surge.

Siddaramaiah held a meeting with the Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao, Medical Education Minister Sharan Prakash Patil and officials, and experts to review the COVID situation

The active covid-19 cases in Karnataka rose to 80 on Monday, with the addition of 37 new patients, the health department said.

Of these 80 active cases, 73 were from Bengaluru, it said in a bulletin.

Bengaluru reported 35 of the 37 new cases on Monday.

The state's positivity rate in the last 24 hours stood at 19.37 per cent, the bulletin added.

On the surge in COVID-19 cases, Dr Subhrojyoti Bhowmik, Professor of Pharmacology at KPC Medical College, said to news agency PTI, "The current surge was expected. We still have travelers arriving from various countries, including Singapore. There is no need to panic. I’m sure that the Indian government will issue an advisory very soon."

Four more people tested positive for Covid-19 in West Bengal, taking the count of active cases to 11, a health department official said on Monday.

The patients with breathing-related issues have been undergoing treatment at state-run and private hospitals, he said, adding that most of these cases were reported from Kolkata and its suburbs. "These patients are under observation. The number of patients who tested positive for the contagion was seven till Saturday. Four more cases were reported till Sunday evening," he said.

Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Monday said there is no need to panic about COVID-19 cases, even as she asserted that the hospitals were fully prepared to tackle if the number rises. According to official figures, Delhi has 104 cases of the resurgent virus.

According to the government data, Kerala currently tops the chart with the highest number of active cases at 430. Other states with notable case counts include Maharashtra (209), Delhi (104), Gujarat (83), and Karnataka (47).