COVID-19: Cases rise to 5,274, toll 149 as Centre mulls lockdown extension
The total number of coronavirus cases in the country rose to 5,274 on Wednesday, registering an increase of 485 cases in the last 24 hours, while the death toll stood at 149, the Union Health Ministry said.
The total number of coronavirus cases in the country rose to 5,274 on Wednesday (April 8), registering an increase of 485 cases in the last 24 hours, while the death toll stood at 149, the Union Health Ministry said.
The number of active COVID-19 cases is 4,714 and as many as 410 people were cured and discharged and one had migrated, it said. The total number of cases include 71 foreign nationals.
As many as 25 new deaths were reported in the last 24 hours. Sixteen people died Maharashtra, two each in Delhi, West Bengal, Haryana and Tamil Nadu and one in Andhra Pradesh.
Maharashtra has reported the most coronavirus deaths at 64, followed by Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh at 13 each and Delhi at 9. Telangana, Punjab and Tamil Nadu have reported seven fatalities each.
In the backdrop of crossing 1,000 confirmed coronavirus cases, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray urged people to wear masks while going out of their homes for buying essentials and appealed to former healthcare personnel from the armed forces, retired nurses and ward boys to join the “war” against the deadly virus.
“Maharashtra needs you,” he said, requesting volunteers to send their contact numbers on the email ID covidyoddha@gmail.com.
West Bengal has registered five deaths, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh have reported four each, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Rajasthan have recorded three deaths each.
Two deaths each have been reported from Jammu and Kashmir and Kerala. Bihar, Himachal Pradesh and Odisha reported one fatality each, according to the health ministry data.
The death toll on Tuesday evening was 124.
Related news: Wear masks in public places or face punishment: Mumbai tells residents
According to the ministry’s data updated at 5 PM on Wednesday, the highest number of confirmed cases in the country is from Maharashtra at 1,018, followed by Tamil Nadu at 690 and Delhi at 576 cases.
The cases have risen to 427 in Telangana while Kerala has reported 336 COVID-19 cases so far. Rajasthan has 328 cases, Uttar Pradesh has 343 and Andhra Pradesh reported 305 coronavirus cases.
Coronavirus cases have risen to 229 in Madhya Pradesh, 175 in Karnataka and 165 in Gujarat. Haryana has 147 cases, Jammu and Kashmir has 116, West Bengal has 99 and Punjab has 91 positive patients so far.
Odisha has reported 42 coronavirus cases while 38 people were infected with the virus in Bihar, Uttarakhand has 31 patients and Assam 27. Chandigarh and Himachal Pradesh have 18 cases each while Ladakh has 14 positive patients so far.
Ten cases each have been reported from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Chhattisgarh. Goa has reported seven COVID-19 infections, followed by Puducherry at five cases.
Jharkhand has reported four cases and Manipur two. Tripura, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh have reported one case each.
Related news: Centre keeps suspense on lockdown, states take measured steps
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a meeting with all the political leaders and said that lifting the lockdown at once is “not possible,” however, he is likely to hold a second meeting on Sunday to discuss about the extension of the same with the chief ministers.
In several key statements, the Supreme Court called doctors the real “warriors” of the country’s COVID-19 fight and said they need to be protected.
The apex court also suggested the Centre to explore feasible alternative mechanisms to reimburse the private testing laboratories and make available the COVID-19 testing for free for all citizens.
(With inputs from agencies)
