In highest single-day spike, India records 3,900 COVID cases

With the death toll due to COVID-19 reaching 1,568 on Tuesday (May 5), the number of cases in the country shot to 46,433, after 3,900 new cases, the highest so far, were reported in the past 24 hours.

According to the Union Health Ministry, the number of active cases stood at 32,138, while 12,726 people have recovered and one patient has migrated. The total number of cases also includes 111 foreign nationals, it said.

A total 179 deaths deaths have been reported since Monday evening, of which 98 were from West Bengal, 35 from Maharashtra, 29 from Gujarat, six from Rajasthan, five from Uttar Pradesh, two from Punjab and one each from Chandigarh, Haryana, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.

Of the 1,568 fatalities recorded so far, Maharashtra tops the tally with 583 deaths, followed by Gujarat at 319, Madhya Pradesh at 165, West Bengal at 133, Rajasthan at 77, Delhi at 64, Uttar Pradesh at 50 and Andhra Pradesh at 36.

The death toll reached 31 in Tamil Nadu and 29 in Telangana, while Karnataka has reported 27 fatalities due to the respiratory disease. Punjab has registered 23 deaths, Jammu and Kashmir eight, Haryana six and Kerala and Bihar have reported four deaths each. Jharkhand has recorded three COVID-19 fatalities so far. Meghalaya, Chandigarh, Himachal Pradesh, Odisha, Assam and Uttarakhand have reported one fatality each, according to the ministry data.

More then 70 per cent of the deaths are due to co-morbidity, the ministry said on its website.

Meanwhile, as the third phase of the nationwide shutdown kicked off and lockdown restrictions have eased in many parts of the country leading India to see a daily spike in cases.

According to the health ministry data updated in the morning, the highest number of confirmed cases in the country are from Maharashtra (14,541), followed by Gujarat (5,804), Delhi (4,898), Tamil Nadu (3,550), Rajasthan (3,061), Madhya Pradesh (2,942) and Uttar Pradesh (2,766).

The number of confirmed cases has gone up to 1,650 in Andhra Pradesh and 1,259 in West Bengal. It has risen to 1,233 in Punjab, 1,085 in Telengana, 726 in Jammu and Kashmir, 651 in Karnataka, 528 in Bihar and 517 in Haryana.

Kerala has reported 500 coronavirus cases so far, while Odisha has 169. A total of 115 people have been infected by the virus in Jharkhand and 102 in Chandigarh. Uttarakhand has reported 60 cases so far, Chhattisgarh 58, Assam 43 and Ladakh and Himachal Pradesh have registered 41 cases each so far.

Thirty-three COVID-19 cases have been reported from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Tripura has registered 29 cases, Meghalaya has reported 12, Puducherry eight and Goa has recorded seven cases so far.

Manipur has two cases. Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh have reported a case each. “Our figures are being reconciled with the ICMR,” the ministry said on its website. State-wise distribution is subject to further verification and reconciliation, it said.