COVID-19: Cases cross 26,000; toll touches 824, 49 deaths in 24 hours

The nationwide tally of coronavirus positive patients crossed 26,490 on Sunday (April 26) morning with 1,990 fresh cases being reported, making it the biggest single-day spike in the total numbers to date, the Union health ministry said.

At least 49 deaths linked to the highly contagious infection were reported in the past 24 hours, taking the death toll across the country to 824.

On Saturday (April 25) evening, reports of cases getting detected in Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and the national capital among other places emerged, but the government said the daily growth rate has dipped to 6 per cent and some states began relaxing some lockdown conditions by allowing more shops to open.

The Union Health Ministry had said more than 5,803 patients have recovered — giving a recovery rate of over 20 per cent. It also said the rate of daily growth in new cases has fallen to 6 per cent, which is the lowest since the country crossed 100 cases.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to interact with various chief ministers on Monday, April 27, where some clarity is expected on the lockdown and further course of action on the COVID-19 situation. Before that, Modi’s monthly Mann Ki Baat radio broadcast is scheduled for Sunday.

Related news: COVID-19: India tally nears 25,000, but govt says growth rate lowest

The total number of coronavirus cases in the national capital on Saturday rose to 2,625, with 111 new cases and one fresh death being reported in a day, according to the Delhi government authorities.

Of the total number of 54 fatalities reported till date, 29 of the deceased were aged 60 and above, making over 53 per cent of the total death cases, they said. Fifteen of them were aged between 50-59 and 10 were aged less than 50 years, officials said.

Maharasthra saw its tally of positive cases rising to 7,628, followed by over 3,000 in Gujarat. Rajasthan has reported more than 2,000 cases, while Madhya Pradesh is also nearing this mark. Madhya Pradesh has crossed 1,900 while Tamil Nadu have more than 1,800 cases and Uttar Pradesh is also nearing that mark.

In Andhra Pradesh, the tally crossed 1,000 and new positive cases included frontline healthcare professionals.

Of the total 824 COVID-19 deaths also, Maharashtra accounts for the highest number of 323 fatalities, followed by Gujarat (133), Madhya Pradesh (99), Delhi (54), Rajasthan (35), Andhra Pradesh (31), Uttar Pradesh (27) and Telangana (25).

Uttar Pradesh, where at least 177 new cases emerged and two more died during the day, has decided to ban all public gatherings till June 30.

The death toll due to coronavirus in Rajasthan rose to 35 on Saturday, with three fresh casualties and the number of cases climbed to 2,083 as 49 more people tested positive for the infection, a senior official said. The deaths were reported from Jaipur, Kota and Jodhpur districts.

Related news: Explained: What is ‘flattening the COVID-19 curve’, and how does it help?

West Bengal also reported 38 fresh COVID-19 cases, taking its total to 541. At least 18 people have died in the state, a health department bulletin said.

The numbers in Odisha climbed to 100 as six more people tested positive for the infection in the states Jajpur district, officials said. All the fresh cases are people with a travel history to Kolkata. Their contact tracing has begun, the Information and Public Relations Department said.

According to the officials, Odisha has 65 active COVID-19 cases. While 34 patients have recovered from coronavirus, a 72-year-old man from Bhubaneswar succumbed to it on April 6. Of the total 100 cases, 46 were reported from Khurda, which includes Bhubaneswar, 18 from Jajpur, 16 from Bhadrak, 10 from Balasore, three from Sudargarh, two each from Kendrapara and Kalahandi, and one each from Cuttack, Dhenkanal and Puri.

Bihar reported 28 fresh coronavirus cases, raising the total number of patients in the state to 251, a top Health Department official said.