Photo Credit: AP

With 4,205 deaths on Tuesday, India saw the highest Covid toll so far, surpassing the previous highest of 4,187 on Friday. Over 50,000 deaths have been recorded over the past fortnight, taking the total Covid death figures to 250,000.

However, the daily case count was below 350,000 for the second day running at 348,371 new infections. Government officials said the overall trend was improving with new cases declining from 414,188 on May 6.

“India is facing a massive upsurge in Covid-19 cases,” said Dr Balram Bhargava, director-general, Indian Council of Medical Research. “The national positivity rate is around 20-21 per cent, and about 42 per cent districts in the country are reporting a positivity rate more than the national average. Early testing, isolation is key to control transmission.”

The Centre on Tuesday said nearly 90 per cent of the country is witnessing a high positivity rate due to the upsurge in cases in the second wave. The government said that 640 districts of the 734 are above the national threshold level of 5 per cent positivity rate.

The World Health Organisation has said that the B.1.617 virus, also known as “a variant of concern” which is being linked to the spurt in cases in India, has been found in 44 countries.