India reported 25,152 new Covid-19 cases in the 24 hours ending 9 am Saturday, taking its tally past the grim milestone of one crore infections. 

With 347 fatalities, the death toll touched 1,45,136. There are as many as 3,08,751 active cases in the country, while 95,50,712 people have recovered from the disease. 

Daily new detections have remained below 30,000 for six consecutive days now.

India is only the second country in the world, after the United States, to have more than one crore confirmed novel coronavirus infections. However, the epidemic in India seems to be in steady decline, bringing hope that the worst may be over. During its worst period in the middle of September, India was finding over 90,000 infections a day. But following an unexpected turnaround, the number of cases declined consistently. From a peak of over 10 lakh cases in the third week of September, active cases have come down to just about 3 lakh now.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court Friday said even if a person recovers from Covid-19, the cost of treatment would ensure that he is finished, adding that there should either be a cap on the cost of treatment in private hospitals or more state-run facilities which will provide affordable care should be set up.

In a series of directions to authorities on steps to deal with the pandemic, a bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan, R Subhash Reddy and M R Shah said the “right to health is a fundamental right guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution of India”. “Right to health includes affordable treatment. Therefore, it is the duty upon the State to make provisions for affordable treatment and more and more provisions in the hospitals to be run by the State and/or local administration are made,” it added.

Source: The Indian Express 

BDST: 1238 HRS, DEC 19, 2020
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