451 new coronavirus cases in Chhattisgarh, 13 deaths

Chhattisgarh reported 451 new coronavirus cases and 13 fatalities on Friday, taking the case tally to 14,481 and death toll to 130, a health official said.

Four COVID-19 patients died on Friday and five on Thursday, while the information about four deaths that had taken place on August 11 and 12 was also received during the day, he said.

199 patients were discharged from hospitals following recovery from the infection on Thursday.

The state has 4,494 active cases now as 9,857 people have been discharged and 130 died.

Of the fresh cases, 142 were from Raipur district, 59 from Durg, 37 each from Raigarh and Korba districts, 22 from Bastar, 20 from Bilaspur, 18 from Rajnandgaon, 15 from Janjgir-Champa, 13 from Kanker, 12 from Narayanpur, 11 each from Bemetara and Kondagaon districts, nine from Koriya, eight from Balod, seven each from Gariaband and Kabirdham districts and five from Mahasamund, the official said.

While three cases each came from Dhamtari, Balodabazar, Surguja, Jashpur and Bijapur districts, three persons from other states who had arrived in Chhattisgarh tested positive for the viral infection, he said.

There were four women among the 13 fatalities reported in the state on Friday.

A 65-year-old woman from Durg who was suffering from COVID-19 and rheumatoid arthritis and was shifted from Durg district hospital to Medical College Hospital here on August 8, died on Friday morning.

Another woman, aged 38, from Abhanpur town (Raipur) who was admitted at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) on August 5, died in the morning.

Of the remaining deaths, nine were reported from Raipur district and one each from Bijapur and Durg districts, the official said.

Chhattisgarh, where the virus has spread in all the 28 districts, has recorded over 10,000 cases and 110 deaths in the last one month alone.

With a total of 4,931 cases so far, Raipur district tops the state tally. The district has witnessed 68 deaths.

Health Minister T S Singh Deo on Friday cautioned the people not to take the pandemic lightly.

"The battle against COVID-19 is continuing and taking it lightly can pose uncertain challenges. The Centre's estimate of COVID-19 cases in Chhattisgarh in August 2020 is 63,000. We are leaving no stone unturned to avoid this but the number of cases can reach 23,000," he said on Twitter.

"This is a very crucial time and I urge everyone to be extremely cautious!," Singh Deo added.

Chhattisgarh's COVID-19 figures are as follows: Positive cases 14,481, new cases 451, deaths 130, discharged 9,857, active cases 4,494, people tested so far 4,09,693.