India’s Covid-19 death toll breached the grim one-lakh mark while the number of positive cases surged past 64 lakh on Friday. In the last 24 hours, 81,484 new cases were reported while 1,095 people succumbed to the virus, taking the death toll to 1,00,271, as per the latest data of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW). The data also revealed that 83.37 percent Covid-related deaths and 76.62 percent of the active cases are concentrated to just 10 states across the country.
With 394 deaths reported in the last 24 hours, Maharashtra tops the list, followed by Kerala with 130 deaths. Increasing deaths is concerning for the country and much more needs to be done to avert more fatalities, public health experts have maintained.
Maharashtra reported 18,056 new Covid-19 cases, taking the state’s total case tally to 13,39,232 of whom 2,73,228 are active ones. With 380 deaths, the total death toll has climbed to 35,571. As many as 13,565 patients were discharged today, taking the cumulative recoveries to 10,30,015.
“In some ways we are still early in the pandemic and unless we take strong measures as individuals and as a collective this will be the first lakh of many more lakh Indians to perish due to Covid-19 said,” said Dr Swapneil Parikh, a Mumbai-based clinical researcher.
The southern state of Kerala has been witnessing a massive spike in daily cases since the past few days. Kerala’s daily Covid-19 numbers continues to surge with 7,446 new cases being reported with 54,493 samples tested in the last 24 hours. The state has currently has 56,709 active cases.
The national capital of Delhi reported 3292 new Covid-19 cases, 3,739 recoveries and 42 deaths in last 24 hours. The total cases in the state rise to 2,71,114, including 2,36,651 recoveries and 5235 deaths. Active cases stand at 29,228.
“Over one lakh deaths is a matter of concern, however taking the total tests carried out and test positives, the case fatality is remained low in second highest populated country in the world. We could have avoided many deaths by effective case management and timely referral. India still needs improvement in quality and accessibility of health services,” said Dr Jugal Kishore, professor and head, department of community medicine, Safdarjung Hospital.
Neighbouring state of Punjab reported 1,271 new Covid-19 cases, 2,033 recoveries, and 46 deaths in last 24 hours, taking total positive cases to 1,11,375, including 90,345 discharges, 3,284 deaths, and 17,746 active cases.
Haryana reported sixteen more coronavirus-related fatalities in last 24 hours, taking the death toll to 1,307, while 1,515 fresh cases pushed the total infections in the state to 1,23,782. The active Covid-19 cases in the state currently are 16,485, while 1,05,990 have been discharged after recovery.
Uttar Pradesh reported 4,403 new cases of Covid-19 in the last 24 hours, taking the number of active cases in the state to 55,603. In the last 24 hours and 5,656 people got discharged from different healthcare centres. The current recovery rate in the state is 84.19 per cent, with a total of 3,25,888 recovered from the viral infection so far.
Gujarat reported 1,411 fresh Covid-19 cases, taking the total count of infections to 1,33,219. With 10 more persons succumbing to the infection, the cumulative toll went up to 3,419. A total of 1,231 patients were discharged in the day, taking the total count of recoveries in the state to 1,13,140. The state’s case recovery rate has increased to 84.93 per cent.
Rajasthan reported 15 more deaths and 2,084 new coronavirus cases in last twentyfour hours. The total number of fatalities reported in the last 24 hours were 1,441 with that the case tally rose to 1,28,859.
Madhya Pradesh recorded 2,310 new coronavirus cases, pushing its caseload to 1,22,209, while 26 deaths took the count to 2,207. Meanwhile, 2,081 patients were discharged during the day, taking the overall recovery count to 97,571.
