Record single-day spike of 52k new cases ahead of Unlock 3

New Delhi: COVID-19 cases in India crossed the 50,000 mark in a single day for the first time, pushing the virus tally to 15,83,792, while the recoveries went past 10 lakh on Thursday, according to the Union Health Ministry data.

The country registered a record increase of 52,123 infections in a span of 24-hours, while the death-toll climbed to 34,968 with 775 people succumbing to the disease in a day, the data updated at 8am showed.

There are 5,28,242 active cases of coronavirus infection in the country presently.

The recovery rate among COVID-19 patients was recorded at 64.44 per cent, while the fatality rate was at 2.21 per cent.

The total number of confirmed cases also includes foreigners.

The number of tests for detection of COVID-19 has crossed the 18-million mark in the country.

According to the ICMR, a cumulative total of 1,81,90,382 samples have been tested up to July 29 with 4,46,642 samples being tested on Wednesday.

Of the 775 fresh deaths, 298 are from Maharashtra, 92 from Karnataka, 82 from Tamil Nadu, 65 from Andhra Pradesh, 41 from West Bengal, 33 from Uttar Pradesh, 26 from Delhi, 25 from Punjab, 24 from Gujarat, 15 Jammu and Kashmir, 13 from Madhya Pradesh, 12 from Telangana.

Nine fatalities have been reported each from Bihar and Jharkhand, seven from Haryana, six from Rajasthan, five from Odisha, four from Assam, three from Goa, two each from Uttarakhand and Chhattisgarh and one each from Kerala and Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

Of the total 34,968 deaths reported so far, Maharashtra has reported the maximum at 14,463, followed by 3,907 in Delhi, 3,741 in Tamil Nadu, 2,396 in Gujarat, 2,147 in Karnataka, 1,530 in Uttar Pradesh, 1,490 in West Bengal, 1,213 in Andhra Pradesh and 843 in Madhya Pradesh.

So far, 650 people have died of COVID-19 in Rajasthan, 492 in Telangana, 413 in Haryana, 361 in Punjab, 348 in Jammu and Kashmir, 278 in Bihar, 159 in Odisha, 98 in Jharkhand, 92 in Assam, 72 in Uttarakhand and 68 in Kerala.

Puducherry has registered 47 deaths, Chhattisgarh 48, Goa 39, Tripura 21, Chandigarh and Himachal Pradesh 14 each, Ladakh six, Meghalaya and Nagaland five each, Arunachal Pradesh three, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu and Andaman and Nicobar Islands two each and Sikkim one

The health ministry stressed that more than 70 per cent of the deaths occurred due to comorbidities

"Our figures are being reconciled with the Indian Council of Medical Research," the ministry said, adding that state-wise distribution of figures is subject to further verification and reconciliation.