India's coronavirus cases rise by 6,088 to over 1.18 lakh, recovery rate nears 41%

New Delhi [India], May 22 : India on Friday saw the biggest rise in COVID-19 cases at 6,088 with the total number of cases rising to 1,18,447 and the recovery rate now nearly 41 per cent.
The Health Ministry said 148 deaths have been reported in the last 24 hours. There are 66,330 active cases and 3,583 persons have died. A total of 48,533 patients have been cured/discharged and one has migrated till date taking the recovery rate to 40.98 per cent.
Maharashtra also recorded the highest spike of 2940 cases in a day with the total cases rising to 44,582. Tamil Nadu has 13,967 cases, Gujarat 12,905 and Delhi 11,659.
India has averted between 1.4 million-2.9 million COVID-19 cases on average due to lockdown, the government said on Friday citing various estimates based on statistical models.
Pravin Srivastava, Secretary, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, said that Boston consulting group (BSG) estimated that 36 lakh-70 lakh cases were averted and 1.2 lakh-2.1 lakh lives saved due to lockdown
"According to the estimate by the Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI), nearly 78,000 deaths were averted due to lockdown. The third estimation by two independent economists states that 23 lakh cases and 68,000 deaths were averted. According to some independent experts, over 15 lakh cases and nearly 51,000 deaths have been averted," Srivastava said at a press briefing on the COVID-19 situation.
"Our ministry has worked with the Indian Statistical Institute. We observed that we have averted 20 lakh cases and 54,000 deaths were averted. By and large, we have found that we have averted 14 lakh to 29 lakh cases and deaths averted can vary from 37,000-78,000," he said.
The slide shown by Srivastava said that the estimate is for the impact of lockdown (1.0 and 2.0) on COVID-19 outbreak.
Dr VK Paul, Chairman, Empowered Group 1, who was also present at the briefing, said the growth rate of COVID-19 cases has seen a steady fall from April 3 as the lockdown was able to put a brake on the spread of the coronavirus in the country.
He also said India has the capacity of manufacturing 5 lakh diagnostic kits daily in the next 6-8 weeks.
"The manufacturing of diagnostic kits in India has begun. Our indigenous capacity will be able to manufacture 5 lakh kits daily in the next 6-8 weeks," he said.
RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das on Friday announced yet another set of nine measures to smoothen the flow of finance and preserve financial stability in the turbulent and uncertain times ushered in by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Rajasthan has 6,227 cases of which 3,485 people have recovered and 151 patients have died. Madhya Pradesh has reported 5,981 cases including 2,843 recovered and 270 who have died. Bihar's total count of coronavirus cases has gone up to 2,105.
Here are the top COVID related updates
1. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has allowed travel of certain categories of Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) cardholders to India.
2. Railway reservation is open for public in all classes of 230 trains connecting various stations in the country, said the Ministry of Railways on Friday. Bookings are available online as well as through railway reservation counters. Since yesterday, more than 13 lakh passengers have booked their tickets, the ministry informed.
3. A total of 27,55,714 COVID-19 tests have been done so far in the country, said Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) head scientist Dr Raman R Gangakhedkar here on Friday. He said Friday was the fourth day when more than one lakh tests have been done in a day.
4. Air India on Friday started booking for domestic flights amid the COVID-19 lockdown. The airlines will operate a total of 8,428 flights each week for the next three months from May 25 to August 25 as the Central government has announced the resumption of domestic flights.
5. Twenty-four new COVID-19 positive cases have been reported in the Border Security Force in the last 24 hours. With this the number of active cases in the force has risen to 108, BSF said in a bulletin.
6. The Bihar Education Department has written a letter to all district magistrates and district education officers stating that the foodgrains in schools meant for the mid-day meal scheme are to be used for preparing food for people housed in the quarantine centres. The order is for several government and government-aided schools that are being used as quarantine centers.
7. With two persons testing positive for COVID-19 in Assam on Friday, the total number of coronavirus cases in the state has risen to 216.
8. Further relaxing the COVID-19 lockdown norms, the Tamil Nadu government on Friday allowed plying of autos and cycle rikshaws from May 23, with only one passenger. The government has allowed the services of autos and cycle rickshaws from 7 am to 7 pm. The directive does not apply to Chennai and containment zones. Vehicles are to be sanitised thrice a day and masks are compulsory.
9. In Manipur, one more person has tested positive. He had returned from Delhi by road. Total active cases in the state are now 24.
10. In a bid to bring in uniformity in uniforms put on by its personnel, Indian Navy's Southern Naval Command has asked its men to put on colour-coded masks to match with their uniforms. As per the instructions issued to the personnel in the Kochi-based command, personnel have been asked to put on white masks with white uniforms and black or navy blue masks with other ceremonial uniform, Navy officials said.