51 COVID-19 deaths in 24 hours: Toll jumps to 324; cases 9,352

The death toll due to coronavirus in India climbed to 324 on Monday (April 13) with the country reporting a record 51 fatalities within 24 hours, said the Union Health Ministry in its daily breifing, adding that the total number of cases climbed to 9,352 which is an increase of 905 since Sunday evening.

While the number of active COVID-19 cases stood at 8,048, as many as 979 people have been cured and discharged, and one had migrated, it said. The total number of cases include 72 foreign nationals.

Lockdown extension

Meanwhile, on Monday, states including Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and the Union Territory of Puducherry announced the extension of lockdown till April 30.

This comes a day ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s address to the nation at 10 am in which he is expected to announce the extension of the nationwide lockdown.

Earlier, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Telangana, Odisha, and Punjab also imposed lockdown in their respective regions till the end of this month.

Deaths

Fifty-one deaths have been reported since Sunday evening, of which 22 were from Maharashtra, seven each from Madhya Pradesh and Telengana, five from Delhi, four from Gujarat, two from West Bengal and one each from Kerela, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Jharkhand, making it the highest single-day death.

Of the total 324 deaths in the country, Maharashtra tops the tally with 149 fatalities, followed by Madhya Pradesh at 43, Gujarat at 26, Delhi at 24 and Telengana at 16. Punjab and Tamil Nadu have registered 11 deaths each while West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh have reported seven deaths each.

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Karnataka have reported six deaths each while five people have lost their lives in Uttar Pradesh. Jammu and Kashmir has reported four fatalities, while Kerala, Haryana and Rajasthan have recorded three deaths each. Jharkhand has registered two deaths.

Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Odisha and Assam reported one fatality each, according to the health ministry data.

Cases

According to the ministry’s data updated in the evening, the highest number of confirmed cases in the country are from Maharashtra at 1,985 followed by Delhi at 1,154 and Tamil Nadu at 1,075.

COVID-19 cases have gone up to 812 in Rajasthan followed by 604 in Madhya Pradesh, 562 in Telengana and 539 in Gujarat. Uttar Pradesh has 483 cases, followed by Andhra Pradesh at 432, Kerala at 376 and Karnataka at 247.

The number of novel coronavirus cases has risen to 245 in Jammu and Kashmir and 185 in Haryana. Punjab has reported 167 cases while West Bengal has reported 152 infections so far.

Bihar has reported 64 cases, while Odisha has 54 coronavirus cases. Thirty-five people were infected with the virus in Uttarakhand, while Himachal Pradesh has 32 cases followed by Assam and Chhattisgarh with 31 cases each.

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Chandigarh reported 21 cases, Jharkhand 19 and Ladakh 15, while 11 cases have been reported from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

Goa and Puducherry have reported seven COVID-19 infections each, Manipur and Tripura have two cases each, while Mizoram, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh have reported a case each.

“State-wise distribution is subject to further verification and reconciliation,” the ministry said on its website.

Containment strategy

Twenty-five districts across 15 states where COVID-19 infections were detected earlier have reported no new cases in the last 14 days and the credit for it goes to the proper implementation of containment strategies by the district administrations, Union Health Ministry said on Monday.

“The implementation of the action plan has started yielding appreciable results in 25 districts across 15 states which reported cases earlier. These districts have no case reported since the last 14 days and constant vigil is being maintained to ensure that no new cases may occur in future,” he said.

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The districts are Gondia (Maharashtra), Raj Nand Gaon (Chhattisgarh), Davangiri (Karnataka), South Goa, Wayanad and Kottayam (Kerala), West Imphal (Manipur), Rajouri (J&K), Aizwal West (Mizoram), Mahe in Puducherry, SBS Nagar in Punjab, Patna, Nalanda and Munger in Bihar, Pratapgarh in Rajasthan, Panipat, Rohtak and Sirsa in Haryana, Pauri Garhwal in Uttrakhand and Bhadradari Kothagudem in Telangana.

(With inputs from agencies)