With 376 new cases of COVID-19 reported in the country in the last 24 hours, the Health Ministry on Wednesday said the spike does not represent a “national trend” and was primarily due to travel by those who had attended the Tablighi Jamaat congregation in the national capital. The Health Ministry in a statement said 1,637 confirmed cases and 38 deaths have been reported in the country as of now. “During the last 24 hours, 376 new confirmed cases and three new deaths have been reported. 132 persons have been cured /discharged from the hospitals after recovery,” the statement said. However, addressing the daily press briefing to provide updates on the COVID-19 situation in the country, Joint Secretary in the Health Ministry Lav Agarwal said 386 new positive cases were reported in the last 24 hours and till now there are a total of 1,637 COVID-19 cases in the country. “I want to highlight that the rise in the number of positive cases does not represent a national trend, but if there will be a failure anywhere, obviously cases will rise,” he said as he urged people to follow the guidelines of social distancing and lockdown and avoid congregations and religious gatherings. All the states concerned have been notified and asked to carry out intensive drives of rigorous contact tracing and testing besides sending those with symptoms to quarantine or isolation facilities or hospitals, Agarwal said.
