India records 12,881 new COVID-19 cases, tally climbs to 3,66,946

With the breaking and setting of new COVID-19 records every day, India seems to be on an elevator that only goes up. Following yesterday’s numbers, a new record single-day jump of 12,881 cases was registered in the country today.

India’s tally now stands at 3,66,946 as of Thursday (June 18), while the death toll climbed to 12,237 with 334 new fatalities, according to the Union Health Ministry data.

The country is the fourth worst-hit nation by the pandemic after the US, Brazil and Russia.

From June 1 till 18, India saw a surge of 1,76,411 coronavirus infection cases with Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Delhi, Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh remaining among the top ten states accounting for the rising tally of COVID-19.

The country had recorded a massive spike of 2,003 deaths on Wednesday following a data reconciliation exercise carried out by states which brought to the fore large number of fatalities previously reported in Maharashtra and Delhi which were not attributed to the disease.

In the last two days, India’s COVID-19 fatality rate has risen from 2.8 to 3.3 per cent now.

The number of active cases as on Thursday stands at 1,60,384, while 1,94,324 people have recovered and one patient returned abroad.

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“Thus, around 52.95 per cent patients have recovered so far,” an official said. The total number of confirmed cases include foreigners.

India registered over 10,000 cases for the seventh day in a row.

Maharashtra adds 3,752 new COVID-19 cases

Maharashtra’s COVID-19 tally increased by 3,752 cases to 1,20,504 on Thursday, while 100 more patients succumbed to the infection, said a health department official.

The state reported death of 100 people due to coronavirus, taking the toll to 5,751.

Maharashtra COVID-19 figures are as follows: Positive cases 1,20,504, new cases 3,752, deaths 5,751, discharged 60,838, active cases 53,901, people tested so far 7,17,683.

Delhi breaches 45,000-mark, price on testing capped

As the total number of COVID-19 positive cases in Delhi has breached the 45,000-mark, while the virus has claimed about 1,400 lives in the city, the Centre announced to conduct six lakh rapid antigen COVID-19 tests at 169 new facilities.

“50,000 kits have already been supplied,” Union Minister G Kishan Reddy said on Thursday.

He also said the Central government is going to provide 500 additional ventilators and 650 ambulances to hospitals in Delhi, which has seen a spike in number of coronavirus cases over the past few days.

The home ministry announced that the price for the COVID-19 test in Delhi has been fixed at ₹2,400, as suggested by a high-level committee set up by the home minister on Sunday.

Tamil Nadu reports 2,141 new cases of COVID-19

Tamil Nadu has reported 2,141 new cases of COVID-19, taking the tally of the total cases in the state to 52,334.

The death toll is at 625 after 49 deaths were reported on Thursday, the health department said.

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To further keep a check on the increasing COVID numbers, the state government announce a 12-day complete lockdown in Chennai, Chengalpattu, Kanchipuram, and Tiruvallur, the districts which have reported the highest number of COVID-19 cases in the state from tomorrow (June 19).

Other states

27 COVID cases in Gujarat, 18 in Uttar Pradesh, 12 in Harynana, 11 in West Bengal, eight in Karnataka, six each in Punjab and Madhya Pradesh, five in Rajasthan, three in Bihar, two each in Jammu and Kashmir and Andhra Pradesh were also reported on Thursday.

Chhattishgarh, Jharkhand, Puducherry, Telangana and Uttarakhand reported one COVID-19 fatality each.

According to Johns Hopkins University, which has been compiling COVID-19 data from all over the world, India is in the eighth position in terms of the death toll.

Of the total 12, 237 deaths, Maharashtra accounted for the highest 5,751 fatalities followed by Delhi with 1,904 deaths, Gujarat with 1,560, Tamil Nadu with 625, West Bengal with 506, Madhya Pradesh with 482, Uttar Pradesh with 435, Rajasthan with 313 and Telangana with 192 deaths.

The COVID-19 death toll reached 130 in Haryana, 102 in Karnataka, 90 in Andhra Pradesh, 78 in Punjab, 65 in Jammu and Kashmir, 44 in Bihar, 26 in Uttarakhand, 20 in Kerala and 11 in Odisha. Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh have registered 10 deaths each, while Assam and Himachal Pradesh have recorded 8 deaths each.

Puducherry has reported 7 deaths,  Chandigarh 6 while Meghalaya, Tripura and Ladakh have reported 1 fatality each, according to the Health Ministry.

More than 70 per cent deaths took place due to comorbidities, the ministry said.

Maharashtra has reported maximum number of cases followed by Tamil Nadu and Delhi, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and West Bengal, according to the Health Ministry’s data.

The number of COVID-19 cases has gone up to 11,244 in Madhya Pradesh, 8,832 in Haryana, 7,734 in Karnataka, 7,071 in Andhra Pradesh and 6,942 in Bihar.

It has risen to 5,675 in Telangana, 5,406 in Jammu and Kashmir, 4,605 in Assam and 4,338 in Odisha. Punjab has reported 3,497 novel coronavirus cases so far, while Kerala has 2,697 cases.

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A total of 2,023 people have been infected by the virus in Uttarakhand, 1,895 in Jharkhand, 1,864 in Chhattisgarh, 1,135 in Tripura, 687 in Ladakh, 656 in Goa, 569 in Himachal Pradesh and 552 in Manipur. Chandigarh has registered 368 COVID-19 cases, Puducherry has 245 cases, Nagaland has 193, Mizoram has 121, Arunachal Pradesh has 99, Sikkim has 70, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu together have reported 57 COVID-19 cases.

Meghalaya and Andaman and Nicobar Islands have registered 44 infections each so far.

“Our figures are being reconciled with the ICMR,” the ministry said, adding 8,703 cases are being reassigned to states. State-wise distribution is subject to further verification and reconciliation, it added.

(With inputs from agencies.)