By Dr Nitin Pandey
DEHRADUN, 9 Aug: Sunday was another day with both new cases and recovered cases rising to new levels, 64,399 being the number of new cases and 58,379 being the number of people who have recovered, so that the increase in number of cases across the Nation was 9659. Maharashtra had the maximum numbers as usual, 12,822 new cases and 11,081 recoveries. Almost all states presented a similar picture, with new cases total exceeding the recoveries by just a little margin. India on Saturday conducted over 7 lakh tests in a day, which is about 500 tests per minute – the highest level, so far.
An interesting report in the press points out that sales of physical training equipment like dumbells, cycles and other exercise equipment have grown by over 50% in recent months and even though gyms have opened up, people still prefer to exercise at home. In Dehradun, almost all cycle shops have sold their entire stock of geared cycles and it is literally impossible to find one in the market these days.
There were 220 new cases in Uttarakhand on Sunday with 171 recoveries. Of the 220, only 104 were due to local transmission, the rest were all in people who have come back to Uttarakhand or their immediate contacts. For the third day, today, Dehradun had more people recovering than testing positive, 41 Vs 34. The number of pending reports climbed up once again, to 9744, which is not a good thing.
Eight patients lost their lives due to COVID-19 in Uttarakhand on Sunday, 3 in Rishikesh, 4 in Dehradun and one in Haridwar.
(Dr Nitin Pandey is a Dehradun based ex Indian Air Force doctor, a Pediatrician and an active Social worker.)