India registers record 5,242 COVID-19 cases in a day; total tally nears 100,000

THE death toll due to COVID-19 rose to 3,029 and the number of cases to 96,169 in the country on Monday (18), registering an increase of 157 deaths and a record jump of 5,242 cases in the last 24 hours, according to the health ministry.

The number of active COVID-19 cases stood at 56,316, while 36,823 people have recovered and one patient has migrated, it said.  The recovery rate in the country is around 38.29 per cent.

The country reported its first COVID-19 case on January 30 in the Southern state of Kerala.

Of the 157 deaths deaths reported since Sunday (17) morning, 63 were in Maharashtra, 34 in Gujarat, 31 in Delhi, six in West Bengal, five each in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, four in Tamil Nadu, three in Punjab and one each from Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka and Odisha.

Of the 3,029 fatalities, Maharashtra tops the tally with 1,198 deaths. Gujarat comes second with 659 deaths, followed by Madhya Pradesh (248), West Bengal (238), Delhi (160), Rajasthan (131), Uttar Pradesh (104),Tamil Nadu (78) and  Andhra Pradesh (50).

The death toll has reached 37 in Karnataka, 35 in Punjab and 34 in Telangana.   Haryana has reported 14 fatalities due to the disease. Jammu and Kashmir has 13 deaths, while Bihar has registered eight and Kerala and Odisha each have reported four deaths. Jharkhand, Chandigarh and Himachal Pradesh each have recorded three COVID-19 fatalities each, while Assam has reported two deaths.

Meghalaya, Uttarakhand and Puducherry have reported one fatality each, according to the data by the ministry.    According to the ministry's website, more than 70 per cent of the deaths are due to comorbidities, the existence of multiple disorders in the same person.

The highest number of confirmed cases in the country are from Maharashtra at 33,053, followed by Gujarat at 11,379, Tamil Nadu at 11,224, Delhi at 10,054 Rajasthan at 5,202, Madhya Pradesh at 4,977 and Uttar Pradesh at 4,259.  The number of COVID-19 cases has gone up to 2,677 in West Bengal, 2,407 in Andhra Pradesh and 1,964 in Punjab.

The number of cases has risen to 1,551 in Telangana, 1,262 in Bihar, 1,183 in Jammu and Kashmir, 1,147 in Karnataka and 910 in Haryana. Odisha has reported 828 coronavirus infection cases so far, while Kerala has 601 cases. A total of 223 people have been infected with the virus in Jharkhand and 191 in Chandigarh.

Tripura has reported 167 cases, Assam 101, Uttarakhand 92, Chhattisgarh 86, Himachal Pradesh 80 and Ladakh 43. Thirty-three COVID-19 cases have been reported from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.    Goa have reported 29 COVID-19 cases, while Meghalaya and Puducherry have registered 13 cases each.      Manipur has seven cases. Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh and Dadar and Nagar Haveli have reported a case each till how.