The total number of confirmed coronavirus cases in India touched 315 on Saturday, the eve of the 14-hour ‘Janata Curfew’, with more than 90 cases coming to light within 24 hours.
This was the sharpest single-day increase in coronavirus cases in the country. Before this, at least 50 cases of the infection were recorded on Friday after nearly two weeks of gradual rise. In essence, Covid-19 cases have more than doubled in India since Thursday, signalling an urgent need for social distancing. While the 14-hour Janata Curfew called for by Prime Minister Narendra Modi will help promote self-isolation, it needs to be extended beyond a day to check community transmission.
Till now, four people have died due to the infection, while nearly 23 have recovered as per the data available till Saturday evening.
If the growth of the outbreak in Italy or other European countries is anything to go by, India is now in a crucial phase in its fight against the spread of coronavirus.
In several European countries, including Italy, Spain and Germany, the number of coronavirus cases had seen a sudden explosion after a couple of weeks of steady but slow increase in numbers.
The chart above shows that the number of confirmed coronavirus cases had seen an exponential growth once they crossed the 100 case-mark in China, South Korea, Iran, Italy, Spain, Germany, and the United States.
It can also be observed that due to successful intervention from the state, in terms of increased testing services and putting social distancing measures, China and South Korea managed to contain the spread of the new virus, hence, a flatter curve after an initial rapid increase.
On the other hand, countries in the Europe, especially Italy, along with Iran and United States, are struggling to contain the outbreak.
Globally, more than 11,000 people have died because of the coronavirus while there are still nearly 2,00,000 confirmed active cases, most of which are in Europe. Over 90,000 people have recovered from the infection, which includes more than 70,000 patients in China.
The chart above shows that though China saw a peak in coronavirus deaths in mid-February, it was successfully able to contain it which resulted in more recoveries and fewer deaths later on. Similarly, South Korea, even after seeing a sharp increase in the number of coronavirus cases early on, successfully kept the casualty figures low by increasing testing services in the country.
In contrast, countries like Iran and Italy are witnessing more deaths each day compared to the previous one.
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