India’s coronavirus tally crosses 3 lakh-mark, Maharashtra alone accounts for over 1 lakh cases

The nationwide coronavirus tally crossed the 3-lakh mark on Friday with a record number of over 10,000 new cases being detected across states and union territories. Maharashtra accounts for more than one lakh of these cases.

The government, meanwhile, stressed on the need for stringent containment measures to check the pandemic with the last one lakh cases emerging in just 10 days.

While the first case was detected in India on January 30, it took more than 100 days to reach the one-lakh mark on May 18, but the 2-lakh mark was breached only about a fortnight later on June 2.

India is the fourth worst-hit nation by the pandemic after the US, Brazil and Russia. While the US has reported more than 20 lakh confirmed cases so far, the tally for Brazil is over 8 lakh and for Russia more than 5 lakh.

Globally, more than 4 lakh have died and over 75 lakh have tested positive since the outbreak of the disease in China last December. However, nearly 36 lakh have recovered as well.

In India, more than 1.47 lakh patients have recovered so far, while there are nearly 1.42 lakh active cases, according to data from the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

Maharashtra, the worst-hit state, saw its tally cross the 1-lakh mark after 3,493 new cases were reported to take its total to 1,01,141, while its death toll rose to 3,717. It also reported a large number of recoveries. As many as 126 cancer patients, who had tested COVID-19 positive, have recovered in Mumbai itself.

‘Emerging epicentres matter of concern’

The Centre has asked states and UTs to pay special attention to emerging epicenters of cases and to focus on containment, testing and tracing, upgrading health infrastructure, clinical management and community engagement for effective management of COVID-19, said the health ministry.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will also hold a fresh round of consultation with chief ministers next week.

In its morning update, the ministry said the total number of confirmed cases has reached 2,978,535 and the death toll to 8,498 after record numbers of 10,956 cases and 396 fatalities were recorded in the last 24 hours.

However, figures announced by states and UTs, as of 10.15 pm on Friday, showed the overall national tally of confirmed cases having risen to 3,00,519 and the death toll to 8,872. It also showed a higher number of recoveries at more than 1.52 lakh.

The ministry said the doubling time of coronavirus cases has improved to 17.4 days, from 3.4 days when the nationwide lockdown was imposed on March 25. A phased withdrawal of all lockdown restrictions began on June 1, except for those in containment zones.

In Delhi, a record number of 2,137 new cases were detected to take its tally to 36,824, while its death toll rose to 1,214.

In Tamil Nadu, another badly hit state, the tally saw a record daily jump of 1,982 cases to cross the 40,000-mark, while the toll reached 367.

Gujarat reported 495 new cases and 31 more fatalities, taking its case count to 22,562 and the death toll to 1,416.

Uttar Pradesh reported 20 more deaths and 528 fresh cases, the biggest single-day spike so far for the state. This took its death toll to 365 and the case count to 12,616. However, more than 7,600 people have recovered, giving a recovery rate of over 60%.

West Bengal breached the 10,000-mark with its highest single-day spike of 476 cases, while nine more fatalities were reported to take the toll to 451.

New cases were also reported from Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Puducherry, Goa, Chhatisgharh, Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab, Chandigarh, Jammu & Kashmir, Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Odisha, Nagaland, Mizoram, Manipur, Sikkim, Tripura and Arunachal Pradesh.

Source: News18