India's COVID-19 tally nears 4L with highest single-day spike of 14,516 cases

India on Saturday (June 20) saw another record spike of 14,516 new COVID-19 cases in a single-day, pushing the tally to 3,95,048, while the death toll rose to 12,948 with 375 new fatalities, according to Union Health Ministry data.

The number of recoveries continued to surge with 2,13,830 patients cured so far, while there were 1,68,269 active cases, according to the updated official figures at 8 am. One patient has migrated. “Thus, around 54.12 per cent of the patients have recovered so far,” an official said.

The total number of confirmed cases includes foreigners. India registered over 10,000 cases for the ninth day in a row.

The country has witnessed a surge of over two lakh infections from June 1 till 20 with Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Delhi, Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh among the top five states that have seen a sharp rise in COVID-19 cases.

Of the 375 new deaths reported till Friday morning, 142 were from Maharashtra, 66 from Delhi, 41 from Tamil Nadu, 27 from Gujarat, 23 from Uttar Pradesh, 11 from West Bengal, 10 each from Rajasthan, Karnataka and Haryana, nine each from Madhya Pradesh and Punjab, six from Bihar, four each from Andhra Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir, and three from Telangana. India is the fourth worst-hit nation by the pandemic after the US, Brazil and Russia.

According to the Johns Hopkins University, which has been compiling COVID-19 data from all over the world, India is at the eighth position in terms of the death toll.

Of the total 12,948 deaths, Maharashtra accounted for the highest 5,893 fatalities followed by Delhi with 2,035 deaths, Gujarat with 1,618, Tamil Nadu with 666, West Bengal with 529, Madhya Pradesh with 495, Uttar Pradesh with 488, Rajasthan with 333 and Telangana with 198 deaths.

The COVID-19 death toll reached 144 in Haryana, 124 in Karnataka, 96 in Andhra Pradesh, 92 in Punjab, 75 in Jammu and Kashmir, 50 in Bihar, 26 in Uttarakhand, 21 in Kerala and 11 in Odisha. Jharkhand has also registered 11 deaths, Chhattisgarh 10, Assam 9, Himachal Pradesh 8, Puducherry 7, Chandigarh 6 while Meghalaya, Tripura and Ladakh have reported 1 fatality each, according to the Health Ministry.

More than 70 per cent deaths took place due to comorbidities, the ministry said. Maharashtra has reported the maximum number of cases at 1,24,331 followed by Tamil Nadu at 54,449, Delhi at 53,116, Gujarat at 26,141, Uttar Pradesh at 15,785, Rajasthan at 14,156 and West Bengal at 13,090, according to the Health Ministry’s data.

The number of COVID-19 cases has gone up to 11,582 in Madhya Pradesh, 9,743 in Haryana, 8,281 in Karnataka, 7,961 in Andhra Pradesh and 7,181 in Bihar. It has risen to 6,526 in Telangana, 5,680 in Jammu and Kashmir, 4,904 in Assam and 4,677 in Odisha. Punjab has reported 3,832 novel coronavirus cases so far, while Kerala has 2,912 cases.

A total of 2,177 people have been infected by the virus in Uttarakhand, 2,028 in Chhattisgarh, 1,965 in Jharkhand, 1,178 in Tripura, 725 in Goa, 744 in Ladakh, 681 in Manipur and 619 in Himachal Pradesh. Chandigarh has registered 381 COVID-19 cases, Puducherry has 286 cases, Nagaland has 198, Mizoram has 130, Arunachal Pradesh has 103 and Sikkim has 70. Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu together have reported 62 COVID-19 cases.

Andaman and Nicobar Islands has registered 45 infections each so far while Meghalaya has recorded 44 cases. “Our figures are being reconciled with the ICMR,” the ministry said, adding 9,265 cases are being reassigned to states. State-wise distribution is subject to further verification and reconciliation, it added.