India coronavirus numbers explained: Centre moves towards Unlock 2.0, states tighten lockdown

Chennai and surrounding areas have been under intense lockdown for the last two weeks and continue to be so for at least another week, as Tamil Nadu extended the present lockdown rules for the rest of the state for another month. On Monday, Tamil Nadu again overtook Delhi to become the state with the second-highest caseload in the country. Tamil Nadu now has more than 86,000 confirmed cases, at least a thousand more than Delhi.

Top ten states with maximum caseload

STATE	TOTAL POSITIVE	NEW CASES	TOTAL RECOVERIES	DEATHS Subscriber Only Stories View All Premium UPSC Key-August 17, 2022: Why you should read ‘Remission’ or ‘Free Speech... Premium BJP shake-up: Gadkari & Shivraj out of Parliamentary Board, Yediyurap... Premium Crypto romance scams: ‘Asian women’ on Twitter are coming for... Premium Cheetahs are set to arrive in India, what the big cats have to say Subscribe Now to get 62% OFF
Maharashtra	169,883	5,257	88,960	7,610
Tamil Nadu	86,224	3,949	47,749	1,141
Delhi	85,161	2,084	56,235	2,680
Gujarat	32,023	626	23,248	1,828
Uttar Pradesh	22,828	681	15,506	672
West Bengal	17,907	624	11,719	653
Rajasthan	17,546	388	13,808	405
Telangana	15,394	975	5,582	253
Haryana	14,210	381	9,502	232
Karnataka	14,295	1,105	7,683	230

Maharashtra also said it was extending the current restrictions all over the state for the next one month, and in fact brought in a few more curbs. It said outdoor activities for residents in Mumbai, for shopping or any other reason, would have to be confined to ‘neighbourhood areas’. Only people on their way to office or some essential work would be allowed to venture further. When the outdoor movement was initially allowed at the start of June, no such restriction had been placed. Thane administration has said it would bring in more curbs in the city from July 2.

Karnataka has decided that a full lockdown across the state would be enforced every Sunday beginning July 5, while night curfews have started to begin an hour early, from 8 pm instead of 9 pm. In the last three days, Karnataka has seen a sharp rise in the number of new cases being detected, with almost 3,300 people testing positive. In Telangana, where almost 9,000 new cases have been detected in the last ten days, about than two-thirds of its entire caseload, the state government is contemplating a full lockdown in the Greater Hyderabad region, the worst affected area.

In Assam, a two-week lockdown began in Guwahati on Monday, with even grocery states shut down. Greater restrictions were also imposed in some areas in neighbouring Meghalaya that border Guwahati.

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On Monday, more than 18,500 new cases were discovered, taking the total caseload in the country to over 5.66 lakh.

For the last one week, the number of new cases being reported from across the country have increased, with at least 17,000 infections being detected each day. On Monday, more than 18,500 new cases were discovered, taking the total caseload in the country to over 5.66 lakh. Almost 60,000 cases have been added in just the last three days.

Delhi, which had been leading the surge a few days ago, has slowed down a bit. On Monday, it reported just about 2,000 new cases, down from the level of 3,500 to 4,000 a week ago. As a result of this, Delhi has slipped down one place in the list of states with maximum caseload in the country. In fact, for the last two days, the number of recoveries in the national capital has far exceeded the new cases.

Right now, the surge is being powered by Tamil Nadu, Telangana, and Karnataka, besides Maharashtra, which has been reporting more than 5,000 cases for the last four days now. Karnataka reported 1,105 new cases on Monday, its highest thus far, while Telangana has been adding between 800 and 1,000 cases for five days now.

Meanwhile, several states are also starting widespread trials of plasma therapy to treat novel Coronavirus patients. In this line of treatment, blood plasma from recovered patients is injected into another patient to improve immunity. Across the world, this treatment is being applied in some select cases of Coronavirus patients, and has largely been found to be useful in suitable candidates. Within India as well, this method has been applied on several patients in different states. But now, a more comprehensive trial has been ordered in Delhi, Maharashtra, Haryana and Punjab.

Delhi said it was establishing a plasma bank, and urged the recovered patients to donate their blood plasma. In Maharashtra, hospitals attached to 21 medical colleges across the state have been made part of the ‘Platina’ project to use convalescent plasma therapy. Haryana said all its medical colleges are being equipped to carry out this line of treatment.