However, deaths from the virus continued to fall sharply, with just around 54 fatalities recorded in the week ending Sunday (April 4-10), the lowest weekly toll in over two years since March 23-29, 2020, the week when a national lockdown was announced. Just a single Covid death was reported on Sunday (from Delhi) till late at night, with data from a few more states awaited.
Meanwhile, India reported around 7,100 new cases in the week, the lowest weekly tally in two years since April 6-12, 2020, when the number was below 5,000. Cases were down 15% as compared with the previous week, the lowest drop in weekly numbers since the third wave of the pandemic started receding in late January this year.
Delhi recorded a 26% rise in new cases during the week. The capital logged 943 cases, up from 751 in the previous seven days, reversing a declining trend in infections since the peak of the third wave. With testing numbers down, Delhi has been reporting daily positivity rates of more than 1% in the past several days. Neighbouring Haryana posted a higher rise in cases during the week. New infections were up nearly 50% from 344 in the previous week to 514.
In Gujarat, where daily cases have seen a minor spurt over the past three days, 115 fresh cases were recorded in the week. This was 89% higher than the previous week’s tally of 61. However, in all three states, the overall numbers remain low and the rise in cases could be a result of localised outbreaks.
Elsewhere, the decline in numbers was slowing down in Karnataka, which saw infections fall by 8%, Telangana (down 4%) and Maharashtra (12% decline).
Maharashtra posted 776 cases during the week as compared to 885 in the previous seven days. The state, however, reported 27 deaths from the virus during the week – half of the nationwide toll and a three-fold increase from nine fatalities logged in the previous week.