India registers over 5 lakh cases; health ministry adds dexamethasone in treatment protocol

India continues to witness a surge in coronavirus cases being reported from across states, with Maharashtra, Delhi and Tamil Nadu recording the highest number of infections.

With a record single-day surge of 18,552 cases, India’s COVID-19 tally raced past five lakh on Saturday as it added four lakh infections in just 39 days to reach another grim milestone amid increased testing for the disease.

As the new cases rose by 1 lakh in six days, a Union Health Ministry official said the recovery rate has also steadily improved to reach 58.13 percent. It was for the fourth consecutive day that coronavirus infections increased by more than 15,000.

The COVID-19 caseload zoomed to 5,08,953 with the addition of 18,552 cases in the last 24 hours, while 384 fatalities were also recorded during the same period, according to the Health Ministry data. The death toll stood at 15,685, it said. India is in the fourth place in the global COVID-19 tally after the US, Brazil and Russia.

Here are the key developments of the day:

>> Health Ministry said that eight states, including Maharashtra, Delhi and Tamil Nadu, contributed 85.5 percent of the active COVID-19 caseload and 87 per cent of the total deaths due to the disease in India.

>> India’s recovery rate increased to 58 percent. Mortality/fatality rate reduced to around 3 percent.

>> Dexamethasone, an inexpensive and widely used steroid, was included in the treatment protocol for COVID-19 patients in moderate to severe stages of illness by the Union health ministry on Saturday.

>>Maharashtra on Saturday registered the highest-ever single-day spike of 5,318 new COVID-19 cases. The state’s total case count now stands at 1,59,133.

>> Haryana on Saturday reported seven more deaths due to coronavirus, while 543 fresh cases pushed the tally in the state to 13,427.

>> Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday visited a newly created COVID-19 care facility with over 10,000 beds in the national capital and reviewed arrangements.

>> Nepal has registered 554 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, taking the nationwide COVID-19 tally to 12,309.

>> Twenty-four Samajwadi Party leaders, including its district unit president, were booked for allegedly defying social distancing norms while protesting against the fuel price hike, police said on Saturday.

>> Fifty-two people were arrested in a town in Shamli district of Uttar Pradesh for gathering at a mosque for Friday prayers, violating orders that prevent large assemblies to combat the spread of COVID-19.

>>  To bolster COVID-19 management efforts in the national capital, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) supplied diagnostic material for carrying out 4.7 lakh RT-PCR tests to the 12 functional labs in Delhi till date.

>> Thirty-six more people have tested positive for COVID-19 in Tripura, taking the northeastern state’s tally to 1,331 on Saturday, Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb has said.

>> The number of COVID-19 fatalities in Jammu and Kashmir rose to 92 on Saturday after a 70-year-old woman from Baramulla district tested positive for coronavirus following her death, officials said. –Moneycontrol