Delhi: India surpassed Italy to become the sixth worst-hit nation by the COVID-19 pandemic, with the country registering a record single-day spike of 9,887 cases which pushed the nationwide tally to 2,36,657.
India’s death toll due to COVID-19 rose to 6,642 with a record increase of 294 deaths in the 24 hours till Saturday 8 am. India has registered over 9,000 cases for the third day in a row.
India is now the sixth worst-affected nation in terms of coronavirus infection cases after the US, Brazil, Russia, Spain and the UK, according to Johns Hopkins University data.
The number of active COVID-19 cases stood at 1,15,942, while 1,14,072 people have recovered and one patient has migrated, the Union health ministry said.
“Thus, around 48.20% patients have recovered so far,” a senior health ministry official said.Though official spokespersons have been highlighting the Indian recovery rate, they do not mention that the global recovery rate is also the same or slightly better.
State-wise deaths
Of the 294 deaths reported since Friday morning, 139 were in Maharashtra, 58 in Delhi, 35 in Gujarat, 12 each in Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh, 11 in West Bengal, eight in Telangana, seven in Madhya Pradesh, five in Rajasthan, two in Andhra Pradesh and one each in Jammu and Kashmir, Odisha, Punjab Jharkhand and Uttarakhand.
Of the total 6,642 fatalities, Maharashtra tops tally with 2,849 deaths followed by Gujarat with 1,190 deaths, Delhi with 708, Madhya Pradesh with 384, West Bengal with 366, Uttar Pradesh with 257, Tamil Nadu with 232, Rajasthan with 218, Telangana with 113 and Andhra Pradesh with 73 deaths.
The death toll reached 57 in Karnataka and 48 in Punjab.
Jammu and Kashmir has reported 36 fatalities due to the disease, Bihar has 29, Haryana has 24 deaths, Kerala has 14, Uttarakhand has 11, Odisha has eight and Jharkhand has reported seven deaths so far.
Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh have registered five COVID-19 fatalities each. Assam has recorded four deaths, while Chhattisgarh has reported two deaths so far.
Meghalaya and Ladakh have reported one COVID-19 fatality each, according to the ministry data.
According to the ministry’s website, more than 70% of the deaths are due to co-morbidities.
State-wise cases
According to the health ministry data updated in the morning, the highest number of confirmed cases in the country are from Maharashtra at 80,229, followed by Tamil Nadu at 28,694, Delhi at 26,334, Gujarat at 19,094, Rajasthan at 10,084, Uttar Pradesh at 9,733 and Madhya Pradesh at 8,996.
The number of COVID-19 cases has gone up to 7,303 in West Bengal, 4,835 in Karnataka, 4,596 in Bihar and 4,303 in Andhra Pradesh.
It has risen to 3,597 in Haryana, 3,324 in Jammu and Kashmir, 3,290 in Telangana and 2,608 in Odisha.
Punjab has reported 2,461 coronavirus infections so far, while Assam has 2,153 cases. A total of 1,699 people have been infected with the virus in Kerala and 1,215 in Uttarakhand.
Jharkhand has registered 881 cases, Chhattisgarh has 879, Tripura has 692, Himachal Pradesh has 393, Chandigarh has 304 cases, Goa has 196, Manipur has 132 and Puducherry has 99 cases.
Ladakh has 97 COVID-19 cases, Nagaland has 94, Arunachal Pradesh has 45, while Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Meghalaya have registered 33 infections each.
Mizoram has reported 22 cases and Dadar and Nagar Haveli has 14 cases, while Sikkim has reported three cases till now.
Global numbers
Across the world, there have now been 6,740,361 confirmed cases around the world as of Friday morning.
According to the Johns Hopkins University, the global death toll due to COVID-19 stands at 394,984. Another 2,748,553 people have recovered from the disease.
In many countries, official data includes only deaths reported in hospitals, not those in homes or nursing homes.
The US has recorded 1,897,838 confirmed cases of COVID-19, the respiratory illness caused by the coronavirus. Brazil is in second place with 614,941 cases, followed by Russia (449,256) and the UK (284,734).
The US has also recorded the highest death toll, which has now crossed one lakh. The country has reported 109,143 fatalities so far. The death toll has also been high in the UK (40,344), Brazil (34,021), Italy (33,774), France (29,114) and Spain (27,134).
COVID-19 could be opportunity for India to speed up Ayushman Bharat: WHO chief
The COVID-19 pandemic, which has presented challenges for several nations, could be an opportunity for India to speed up the health insurance scheme Ayushman Bharat, especially with a focus on primary healthcare, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has said.
WHO Director-General Ghebreyesus was responding to a question on the COVID-19 situation in India, where the number of coronavirus cases are increasing rapidly.
“Of course COVID is very unfortunate and it’s challenging for many nations but we need to look for opportunities too. For instance for India, this could be an opportunity to speed up Ayushman Bharat, especially with a focus on primary health care. I know there is a very strong commitment from the government to speed up the implementation of Ayushman Bharat and with primary healthcare and community engagement, I think we can really turn the tide, Ghebreyesus said during a press briefing in Geneva on Friday.
(With agency inputs)