Coronavirus: Positive cases soar to 562, death toll at 10

With the latest death reported from Madurai district in Tamil Nadu in the early hours of Wednesday (March 25), the coronavirus toll in India stood at 10 while the number of positive cases hit 562, said the Union Health Ministry.

Revising the death toll on Wednesday, the ministry clarified that the second death reported from Delhi on Tuesday (March 24) was not due to coronavirus, thus bringing down the death toll to 10.

The deaths have been reported from Maharashtra (two), Bihar, Karnataka, Gujarat, Punjab, Delhi, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Himachal Pradesh.

According to the data, the number of active COVID-19 cases in the country stood at 512 while 41 people have been cured/discharged or migrated. The figure includes 43 foreign nationals, the Health Ministry said.

Kerala with 109 cases, has reported the highest number of COVID-19 cases, including eight foreign nationals, followed by Maharashtra which recorded 101, including three foreigners, according to the ministry data.

Karnataka has reported 41 cases of coronavirus patients, while the cases in Telangana rose to 35, including 10 foreigners.

Uttar Pradesh has 35 positive cases, including a foreign national. Gujarat has 33 positive cases, including a foreigner, while the number of cases in Rajasthan increased to 32, including two foreigners. Cases in Delhi rose to 31, including one foreigner. In Haryana, there are 28 cases, including 14 foreigners, while Punjab has reported 29 cases.

Ladakh has 13 cases, while Tamil Nadu which reported its first death on Wednesday, has reported 18 cases, including two foreigners. West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh have nine patients each. Chandigarh as well as Jammu and Kashmir have reported seven cases each so far. Uttarakhand has four cases, including one foreigner.

There are three cases each from Himachal Pradesh and Bihar, while two cases have been reported from Odisha. Puducherry, Manipur and Chhattisgarh have reported a case each.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a complete nationwide lockdown for 21 days from Tuesday midnight, asserting in an emotional appeal “with folded hands” that unless India’s 130 crore people practice social distancing, the country will lose the war against coronavirus outbreak and slide back 21 years.

(With inputs from agencies)