Residents wait to give their sample at a Covid-19 testing centre in Chennai (AFP photo)
NEW DELHI: New Covid-19 cases dipped for the second straight day on Monday but the absolute numbers remained high. At 18,870, fresh infections reported in the country during the day were the third highest to date, the previous two days having reported the highest counts. The day’s toll from the virus was 415.
South India has seen a sharp rise in cases over the past few days. The five southern states, along with UT Puducherry, together accounted for 6,985 new cases on Monday, 37% of the day’s total. On Sunday, the number was 7,150, 36.2% of the total (19,741). By contrast, the share of the south in India’s daily Covid-19 count on the first two days of June was below 22%.
Over the past three days, all five southern states and Puducherry have reported their highest single-day jump in cases, with Telangana and Karnataka registering over 1,000 cases on at least one of these days.
On Monday, Tamil Nadu reported its highest single-day jump in infections with 3,949 cases. In Karnatak