Agra, Aug 4 (IANS): With the number of samples going up each day, there is a fresh spurt in cases of Covid-19 in the Taj city.

A month ago, the daily average had gone down to below 10 but in the last two weeks, the number has gone up above 25.

The spurt is not surprising at all, as the daily testing of samples has increased now, explained IMA secretary Dr Sanjay Chaturvedi.

So far 56,563 samples have been tested. In the past 24 hours, 32 new cases of Covid-19 were reported in Agra. The number of containment zones is 89.

The recovery rate has gone down from 82 plus per cent to 79.01 per cent. The total number of active cases is 298.

Health officials said the tally now was 1,902. The death toll is 100 while 1,504 have been discharged after recovery.

District magistrate P.N. Singh said the number of symptomatic cases was going up. This called for greater vigil. People should follow the guidelines regarding safe distancing and mask wearing. The district health infrastructure was sound and responsive, he assured.

Meanwhile, a preliminary analysis of the data so far suggests, more men fell victim to Covid-19 than women who in most cases chose to stay back home, while men went out for work or socialising.

Women confined to homes have taken care of children, helped with their studies and followed the guidelines more seriously than their male counterparts.

Covid-19 victims included more than 67 per cent males, while the percentage of females was around 31 per cent.

IMA secretary Dr Sanjay Chaturvedi however said that so far no study had shown male preference by the virus. "We would need to analyse the data scientifically, find out how many men and how many women were tested. It is a hasty generalisation."

Retd Col Dr Rajesh Chauhan, though said, "women have much better innate immunity and are stronger in many respects. Their disease fighting capacity is definitely better than men."

Chauhan stated that the whole Covid-19 "farce" had adversely hit the country and the economy, threatening to destabilise the system. "It was high time that all restrictions were lifted so that normal life could resume at the earliest," he added. Writing in British medical journals, Chauhan early April had opposed the lockdown.