The spread of coronavirus in India shows no signs of stopping anytime soon, even as more and more movement restrictions are being removed. On Monday, the country reported 90,802 fresh cases of Covid-19, taking its total to 42,04,613.

Since August-end, the country has seen upwards of 75,000 new cases every day, and on Saturday the number went close to 93,000 – placing it at second slot, pushing Brazil down, among the most affected countries.

Maharashtra, with 23, 350 new cases overnight, continues to lead the tally among states, followed by Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.

India has 8,82,542 active cases, according to the health ministry bulletin of Monday morning. The previous 24 hours witnessed 1,016 deaths, which takes the cumulative figure to 71,642. This period also registered 69,564 recoveries, taking the total to 32,50,429. This is a new record. This has resulted in the Recovery Rate touching 77.31%.

Various calibrated and focussed actions undertaken within the umbrella strategy of TEST, TRACK and TREAT have enabled early identification of cases through aggressive and wide scale testing, the health ministry said in a statement. Better ambulance services and seamless point-to-point management of patients to facilitate their timely hospitalisation before their health deteriorates has led to a high number of Covid-19 patients recovering and being discharged from the hospitals. This has also resulted in the declining Case Fatality Rate, which stands at a new low of 1.70%. Supervised isolation in homes and facility settings, following effective Standard of Care protocol, has hugely aided recovery of mild and moderate cases.

Five States are contributing 60% of total cases with Maharashtra at the top with 21.6%, followed by Andhra Pradesh (11.8%), Tamil Nadu (11.0%), Karnataka (9.5%) and Uttar Pradesh at 6.3%.        

Maharashtra also contributed 26.76% of the active cases in the country, followed by Andhra Pradesh (11.30%), Karnataka (11.25%),Uttar Pradesh (6.98%) and Tamil Nadu (5.83%). These 5 States presently contribute 62% of total active cases.

In the last 24 hours, Andhra Pradesh recorded the highest recoveries with 11,915 newly recovered cases. Karnataka and Maharashtra saw 9575 and 7826 recoveries while Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh witnesses 5820 and 4779 new recoveries, respectively. These 5 States together contributed 57% of the recoveries in the last 24 hours.

Going by the guidelines of Unlock phase 4, metro rail services made a comeback on Monday. In Delhi the services resumed after more than five months, with the Yellow Line going operational. Other lines too will start in a graded manner. While all possible precautions have been put in place, the resumption of mass travel raises the sceptre of a further push to the pandemic spread.