In biggest single-day spike, Uttarakhand reports 91 Covid-19 cases, tally at 244

In the biggest single-day spike of Covid-19 cases in Uttarakhand till now, 91 cases were reported from the state on Saturday, taking the tally of total cases to 244. All cases reported were of those who returned to the state from other parts of the country. 55 of these 91, were reported in Nainital who had returned from Maharashtra, said health officials.

A bulletin released by the health department on Saturday evening confirmed the development. Till Saturday afternoon, Rudraprayag was the only district without any cases. However, three fresh cases were reported from the district in the evening. With this, now all districts in the state have Covid-19 cases. So far 157 migrants have tested positive for Covid-19 in Uttarakhand.

The district-wise details of the new cases include Nainital (57), Dehradun (10), Haridwar (2), Almora (3), Champawat (7), Pithoragarh (2) and Uttarkashi (3), Udham Singh Nagar (3), Rudraprayag (3), Pauri Garhwal (2).

State health officials informed that 55 patients from Nainital tested positive on Saturday evening, all with a travel history from Maharashtra. The migrants had reached Haridwar from Maharashtra by train and from there they had reached Haldwani by bus. Rest of the positive cases had a travel history from Rajasthan, Delhi, Gurugram, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Saharanpur.

The increasing number of cases has become a matter of concern for the health department in the state now. The recovery rate has also been reducing gradually in the state and reduced by almost 30% in the past ten days. The recovery rate now stands at eight days for the past seven days.

Amit Negi, secretary for health in the state in a meeting with officials from the department on Saturday asked all chief medical officers to improve the health infrastructure in their districts giving them a ‘free-hand’ to improve the health system.

“All districts should ensure the installation of adequate number of ICU beds, ventilators, procurement of medicines and oxygen supply so that we are ready to tackle any extreme possible situation,” said Negi. He asked officials to update him regularly on the current situation regarding Covid-19 in respective districts.

On May 4, when Lockdown 3.0 started, Uttarakhand had reported 60 cases and now the tally stands at 1244 cases.

On Friday seven cases were detected all of whom were men. Out of the seven new cases detected on Friday, three were reported from Dehradun, two from Haridwar and two from US Nagar. Of three in Dehradun, one had returned from Delhi while another from Mumbai. The third patient is a Thalassemia patient. In US Nagar, one had returned from Delhi and another from Mumbai. In Haridwar, one is a resident of Luxer area in the district, while the other one had returned from Mumbai.