Covid-19 update: Daily cases below 2k mark, active tally at 27,374

The death toll climbed to 5,28,822 with eight fatalities which includes three deaths reconciled by Kerala, the data updated at 8 am stated.

The active cases comprise 0.06 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate increased to 98.75 per cent, the ministry said.

India’s Covid-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 2020, 30 lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on September 5 and 50 lakh on September 16. It went past 60 lakh on September 28, 70 lakh on October 11, crossed 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20 and surpassed the one-crore mark on December 19.

The country crossed the grim milestone of two crore cases on May 4 last year, three crore on June 23 and four crore on January 25 this year.

States have been asked to continue monitoring incoming international travelers, undertake constant genome sequencing and step-up vaccination.

Meanwhile, health experts have found that patients who have recovered from mild to medium cases of Covid-19 and is now suffering from Long Covid has also seen psychological distress as a symptom.

“The Acute Covid patients have had some psychological and psychiatric symptoms, but what is now more relevant is the Long Covid or Post Covid psychological and psychiatric symptoms. This may be due to direct effects of the virus on the brain, it also affects on the psyche and mind, social effects and economic impact altogether,” news agency ANI quoted Dr Nimesh Desai, former Director, of IHBAS.

Vikas Gaur, Head of the Psychiatry Department at Amrita Hospital, Faridabad explained that after physically recovering from Covid, from the third week onwards, many patients have reported mental health issues such as depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder and sleep disorders.