India saw 90% jump in Covid cases due to skewed data from Kerala, spurt in Delhi and Haryana numbers

With India reporting 90 per cent jump in Covid cases in a single day, the Union Health Ministry on Monday chided Kerala for skipping the daily reporting of Covid cases, skewing the monitoring parameters.

After a month, India's daily new Covid count crossed the 2,000-mark once again with 2,183 new cases being reported on Sunday.

The increase was due to a spurt in Covid infections in Delhi and Haryana coupled with cumulative reporting from Kerala after five days.

"It has been observed that Kerala has reported its state level Covid-19 data after a gap of five days. This has impacted and skewed the status of India’s key monitoring indicators like cases, deaths and positivity. India has reported 90 per cent increase in new cases and 165 per cent increase in positivity in a single day,” the ministry wrote to the state.

India’s daily Covid count stood at 1,088 on April 13 when Kerala reported 298 cases. Over the next four days, the national count was at the same range – between 900 plus to 1100 plus – with zero contribution from Kerala. On April 18, the national count shot up to 2,183 with Kerala reporting 940 new cases.

Also read: 500% rise in Covid spread in Delhi-NCR in 15 days, claims survey

"Daily and diligent reporting of data is critical to arrive at a meaningful understanding of pandemic in the districts, state and national level and ensure that any anomalies, surge or emerging trends can be captured in a timely manner,” the Union ministry reminded the state, asking for daily update on Covid data as is the current practice.

The rise of cases in Delhi and Haryana over the last seven days also contributed to rising Covid tally, though most of them are mild cases that do not require hospitalisation.

Between April 12-18, Delhi recorded 2,307 new Covid cases, which is more than double the number of such cases (943) registered in the previous week between April 5-11. In neighbouring Haryana, the number of Covid positive cases rose to 1,119 from 514 in the two corresponding weeks.

“There is a clear indication of transmission picking up in certain regions. The recent increase in cases is a clarion call for optimising the testing strategy and ensuring that early warning systems are efficient, particularly in rural and remote areas,” Oommen John, a senior public health specialist at the George Institute for Global Health told DH.

On Monday, Delhi recorded 501 fresh cases with a positivity of nearly 8 per cent. But overall, there are only 40 patients in hospitals.

The experts cautioned against any knee jerk reactions like closure of the schools and attribute the rise to removal of mask mandate and return of normalcy.

The Delhi Disaster Management Authority will take stock of the situation on April 20 and may take a call to bring back the mask mandate given the rise in positivity.

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