Nagaland registered 116 new Covid-19 cases, 3 deaths last week

Eastern Mirror Desk
Dimapur, April 17 (EMN): Nagaland witnessed a surge in the number of new Covid-19 cases in the past week ending April 16 with 116 new cases and three deaths (excluding cases detected on Saturday) reported during the period.

The department of Health and Family Welfare data revealed that out of the 116 confirmed cases reported this week, 76 were traced contacts and self-test, 35 travellers, four armed forces, and one frontline worker.

It said the case fatality rate among 45 years and above is high at 2.7% and the median age of Covid deaths is 55 years, which is worrisome. “This necessitates the need for urgent vaccination before the second wave peaks,” it stated.

The department went on to inform that the state recorded highest vaccination in a single week with 37,293 doses administered in the past week; 32,436 doses administered in just four days during the vaccination festival observed between April 11 and the 14th, taking the total doses to 1,45,858.

Citing the severity of the pandemic in the country, wherein ‘Covid-19 ICU bed occupancy in Mumbai showed 99% and 91% in Delhi on April 16’, it stressed on the need to follow all safety measures.

“Super spreader events have mostly occurred in enclosed and crowded spaces where transmissibility of the virus increases many times more. In our state, super spreaders have all been found in enclosed settings. Enclosed high-risk settings like offices, educational institutions, restaurants, physical meetings, churches and other places of worship should ensure there is adequate natural ventilation in addition to the SOPs,” read the weekly bulletin. 

‘Airborne transmission of Covid-19 have been demonstrated earlier in such enclosed settings where virus can travel more than two meters through droplet nuclei and can linger longer in the air,’ it added.

Stating that the risk of transmission can be substantially reduced with good ventilation, the department urged the public to improve indoor air quality by opening windows and doors, minimise attendance to 50 % or less of the capacity, use of digital medium and isolation/testing of symptomatic cases besides following other safety measures.

More than 2.34 lakh new cases in India

The data provided by Union Health Ministry said that 2,34,692 new Covid cases were registered in the last 24 hours, pushing India’s active caseload to 16,79,740 and tally to 1,45,26,609 cases.

It said 10 states account for 79.32% of the new cases with Maharashtra leading at 63,729, followed by Uttar Pradesh - 27,360 and Delhi - 19,486.

India also recorded 1,341 deaths in the last 24 hours, taking the death toll to 1,75,649, while cumulative recoveries stand at 1,26,71,220 with 87.23% recovery rate as 1,23,354 more patients had recovered.

Till date, a total of 11,99,37,641 (nearly 12 crore) vaccine doses have been administered in the country.