India reports record jump in COVID-19 cases; 137 deaths in a day

THE COVID-19 cases in India saw the biggest spike for the second consecutive day on Saturday (23) with 6,654 new infections in the last 24 hours, taking the tally to 125,101. With 137 fresh deaths, the toll rose to 3,720, the health ministry said.

The active cases rose to 69,597, while 51,783 people have recovered and a patient has migrated, according to the ministry. The recovery rate is around 41.39 per cent so far.

Of the 137 deaths reported since Friday (22) morning, 63 were in Maharashtra, 29 in Gujarat, 14 each from Delhi and Uttar Pradesh, six from West Bengal, four from Tamil Nadu, two each from Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh, and one from Haryana.

Of the total toll of 3,720, Maharashtra tops the tally with 1,517 deaths, followed by Gujarat at 802, Madhya Pradesh at 272, West Bengal at 265 and Delhi at 208. The number of deaths due to the contagion in Rajasthan is 153, while 152 people died in Uttar Pradesh, 98 in Tamil Nadu and 55 in Andhra Pradesh.

The COVID-19 death toll reached 45 in Telangana, 41 in Karnataka and 39 in Punjab. There are 20 fatalities in Jammu and Kashmir, 16 in Haryana and 11 in Bihar.  Seven people have succumbed to the disease in Odisha, and four each in Kerala and Assam so far.

Jharkhand, Chandigarh and Himachal Pradesh each have recorded three deaths each, while there is a fatality each in Meghalaya and Uttarakhand, the ministry said.

The highest number of confirmed cases in the country are from Maharashtra at 44,582 followed by Tamil Nadu (14,753), Gujarat (13,268) and Delhi (12,319).    There are 6,494 coronavirus cases Rajasthan, 6,170 in Madhya Pradesh and 5,735 in Uttar Pradesh. The number of infections has gone up to 3,332 in West Bengal, 2,709 in Andhra Pradesh and 2,177 in Bihar.

As many as 2,029 people have been infected with the virus in Punjab, 1,761 in Telangana, 1,743 in Karnataka, 1,489 in Jammu and Kashmir and 1,189 in Odisha. In Haryana , 1,067 people are afflicted with the deadly disease, while Kerala has 732 cases, followed by Jharkhand with 308 and 259 in Assam.

Chandigarh has reported 218 cases, while 175 people have tested positive in Tripura and 172 Chhattisgarh.  There are 168 cases of the pathogen in Himachal Pradesh, 153 in Uttarakhand and 54 in Goa. Ladakh has reported 44 COVID-19 cases, while Andaman and Nicobar Islands has registered 33 infections.

Manipur and Puducherry have registered 26 cases each, followed by Meghalaya with 14. Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh, and Dadar and Nagar Haveli have reported a case each so far.