New Delhi:
India has passed the historic milestone of 60 lakh recoveries from the novel coronavirus, data from the Ministry of Health showed this morning. Coronavirus cases in the country, meanwhile, have passed the 70 lakh mark, bringing it ever closer to overtaking the United States as the most infected country in the world. With 74,383 new infections, the total for Covid in India now stands at 70.53,806. During the 24-hour period, India, which is the second worst affected country, reported 918 deaths related to the virus, bringing the total number of deaths to 1.08,334.
Here are the top 10 updates on coronavirus cases:
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Maharashtra and four southern states – Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu – have reported the highest number of cases, data shows. “The top five states with peak caseloads (61% active cases) also contribute more than half (54.3%) of total recoveries,” the Department of Health said in a tweet this morning.
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Maharashtra, the worst-affected state, has reported 11,416 new cases, for a total of 15,17,434. So far, more than 40,000 people have died in the western state. Confirmed cases of the coronavirus crossed the 7.50 lakh mark in Andhra Pradesh as 5,653 infections were added again on Saturday. Neighboring Karnataka, also severely affected by the pandemic, crossed the seven lakh mark with 10,517 new cases.
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Delhi reported 2,866 new cases and 48 deaths from the coronavirus on Saturday. The death rate – based on the last 10 days – is 1.41% while the cumulative death rate is 1.87%. The National Center for Disease Control has warned that the nation’s capital could witness 15,000 daily cases in winter.
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In Bengal, veteran actor Soumitra Chatterjee, who is currently in intensive care for complications from Covid-19, underwent plasma therapy at a private hosptial in Kolkata. Mr Chatterjee – one of Bengal’s most revered actors – had tested positive on Monday.
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The virus initially affected large metropolises such as Mumbai and New Delhi, but has since spread to remote areas of the country, including the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
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The daily number of new cases has risen from a peak of nearly 100,000 in mid-September to around 60,000 to 70,000.
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The steadily increasing cure rate in India and the gradual decline in active cases have proven the success of the Center-led COVID-19 containment strategy, Health Minister Harsh Vardhan recently said.
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India’s COVID-19 tally crossed 20 lakh on August 7, 30 lakh on August 23 and 40 lakh on September 5. It passed 50 lakh on September 16 and crossed 60 lakh on September 28.
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India remains the second country most affected by the coronavirus pandemic, just behind the United States where the Covid tally is around 76 lakh with more than 2 lakh dead. The United States hit a two-month high on Friday with more than 58,000 infections of the novel coronavirus. Ten of the 50 states, including the midwestern states of Indiana, Minnesota, Missouri and Ohio, have reported a record one-day increase in cases, according to Reuters data.
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The number of confirmed infections worldwide has hit daily records for three consecutive days, according to data from the World Health Organization (WHO). The total number of coronavirus deaths worldwide is 1,064,838, according to the WHO. The total number of confirmed cases is 36,754,395.
