The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Tuesday said that there was a spike in coronavirus deaths and cases today as some states, which were not sharing data earlier, have started sharing details with regard to COVID-19 cases and fatalities.
"In the last 24 hours, 195 people died of coronavirus. Now, the total death count has reached 1,568. In the last 24 hours, we witnessed the highest increase in cases and deaths," said Lav Agarwal, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, during the regular media briefing on COVID-19 situation.
"We were not receiving reports of cases or deaths on time from some states. We persuaded them to share these details with us after which the cases have been reported and we have seen a spike in death cases today," added Agarwal.
"In the last 24 hours, 1,020 patients have been cured. So, we have total 12,726 cured people now. Our recovery rate has reached 27.41 per cent. 32,138 patients are under active medical supervision. In the last 24 hours, 3,900 new cases of coronavirus have been registered, taking the total cases to 46,433," he said.
"We are dealing with an infectious disease. That is why timely reporting of cases and their management is crucial. This gap was noticed in some States, which is being addressed after due persuasion," said Agarwal.
He said that at State level, it is important to effectively implement contact tracing, active case search and clinical management of case based on cases reported, and contact tracing.
It is worth mentioning that allegations were levelled earlier against the West Bengal government for hiding coronavirus cases and deaths in the State.
West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar had slammed Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and had asked her to give up 'COVID-19 data cover-up operation.'
Agarwal informed that the coronavirus cases doubling rate have reached 12 days. "Lockdown has yielded very positive results. We start with the case doubling rate of four and as of now we have cases doubling rate of 12," he said.
( With inputs from ANI )