Coronavirus in India April 15 Highlights: Over 2 lakh cases, 1,038 deaths recorded in India in last 24 hours

India Coronavirus Cases Update: Here are the top Covid-related developments of the day.

India added a record over 2 lakh new Covid-19 infections in a day, pushing the cumulative tally to 1,40,74,564 cases, while the active count surpassed the 14 lakh-mark, the Union Health Ministry informed on Thursday.

A total of 2,00,739 new Covid-19 cases have been registered in a span of 24 hours. The death toll also shot up to 1,73,123 with 1,038 new fatalities, the highest since October 3, 2020, the data updated at 8 am showed.

With over 1 lakh infections per day for the ninth consecutive day, India has added 13,88,515 cases in nine days.

Registering a steady increase for the 36th day in a row, the active cases have increased to 14,71,877, comprising 10.46 per cent of the total infections, while the national Covid-19 recovery rate has dropped to 88.31 per cent.

Mumbai, Delhi to use hotels, banquet halls for covid treatment

With the country recording over 2 lakh cases in the last 24 hours, many cities have been struggling to accommodate Covid-19 patients in hospitals.

As such, cities like Delhi and Mumbai have gone ahead and converted hotels and banquet halls into Covid units to treat less critical patients.

According to reports, in Mumbai, hospitals have decided to use luxury hotels to treat Covid-19 patients with milder infection. Private hospitals will tie up with four star or five star hotels to accommodate more patients. However, doctors will have to approve such transfers.

Similarly, in order to tackle a shortage of beds and critical care facilities, the Delhi government issued orders to attach hotels and banquet halls with private and government hospitals, to add more beds for Covid patients.

Delhi: In second wave, more children and infants in hospital with Covid-19

The ongoing Covid-19 surge is taking a toll on children’s health with several hospitals reporting a sharp rise in the number of children between the age of one and five landing up in hospitals. Unlike last year, the virus is affecting infants, with some as young as one-and-a-half months old getting admitted to hospital.

Dr Dhiren Gupta, Pediatric Intensivist at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, said, “The virus is spreading to the pediatric age group in the current surge. The number of children coming to the hospital with Covid-19 has increased five times as compared to last year. We even have a three-month-old infant admitted to the ICU with Covid-19 and pneumonia. While we are getting swamped with young children and teenagers, the most affected age group is between one to five years in this category.”

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