Coronavirus: Over 24,000 Coronavirus Cases In India In 24 Hours For First Time

Maharashtra has the highest number of COVID-19 cases, followed by Tamil Nadu, Delhi and Gujarat.

Highlights

India witnessed 613 deaths during the last 24-hour period
The number of recoveries stands at 4,09,083, the government said today
This is the ninth consecutive day that cases increased by over 18,000

New Delhi: India's new cases of the coronavirus infection reached a record high on Sunday, with the Union Health Ministry saying 24,850 new cases were identified in the 24 hours since 8 am on Saturday. The total is now 6,73,165, leaving India just few hundred cases behind Russia which is the third-most affected nation from coronavirus. India also witnessed 613 deaths during the last 24-hour period, taking the total number of death count to 19,268. With a steady rise, the number of recoveries stands at 4,09,083, the government said today. Seven states -- Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Delhi, Telangana, Karnataka, Assam and Bihar -- have contributed to around 78 per cent of the singe-day spike, according to news agency PTI. This is the ninth consecutive day that India's coronavirus infections increased by more than 18,000.

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India -- which has been reporting more than 18,000 infections for over a week now -- is likely to overtake Russia's tally by Monday, according to reports. "The efforts to expand the testing labs network in the country have led to their numbers increasing every day. There are as many as 1,087 labs in the country -- 780 labs in the government sector and 307 private labs. Facilitation of widespread testing by States/UTs has spurred the number of samples tested every day," the Union Health Ministry has said.
The number of coronavirus cases in Maharashtra -- the worst-hit state in the country -- crossed the two lakh-mark with 7,074 new cases on Saturday. The state has the highest number of COVID-19 cases in India, followed by Tamil Nadu, Delhi and Gujarat.
Delhi recorded 2,505 fresh coronavirus cases yesterday, taking the tally in the city to over 97,000, while the death count from the disease mounted to 3,004, authorities said. The COVID-19 positivity rate in the national capital has declined to 10. 58 per cent after rising to nearly 37 per cent.
After 17 days of intense lockdown, Tamil Nadu relaxed lockdown for Chennai while extending curbs for Madurai and nearby regions till July 12. Chennai, which is under tightened restrictions from June 19 to July 5 to help fight rising COVID-19 cases, would see easing of curbs from Monday.
Neighbouring Karnataka, meanwhile, has announced a total lockdown on Sundays. The southern state on Saturday reported its biggest single day spike of 1,839 new cases and 42 related fatalities, taking the total number of infections in the state to 21,549 and the death count to 335, the Health department said. A whopping 1,172 cases of these cases were from Bengaluru Urban alone; while 24 of the 42 deaths were from the capital city.
West Bengal registered twin records of the highest single-day surge in COVID-19 fatalities and cases on Saturday, as 19 people died due to the disease and 743 more tested positive for the virus, the state health department said. The state has barred flights from six cities - Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, Chennai and Ahmedabad - in Kolkata for two weeks starting Monday, to contain the virus.
In the northeast, the COVID-19 situation has turned grim in Assam with the state reporting its biggest ever single day spike on Saturday. With 1,202 new cases, Assam's COVID-19 tally has crossed 11,000-mark. 777 of the new cases reported yesterday were from Guwahati alone. Guwahati, which is the biggest city in the northeast, has seen close to 3,000 cases in the last 10 days.
The safety and interest of Indians is the topmost priority, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) clarified on Saturday after a memo from the agency triggered a backlash for setting August 15 as a target for developing a coronavirus vaccine, from both medical experts and the opposition. AIIMS Director Dr Randeep Guleria was among those who had claimed that the deadlines for vaccine development are unrealistic.
The World Health Organization reported a record increase in global coronavirus cases on Saturday, with the total rising by 212,326 in 24 hours. The biggest increases were from the United States, Brazil and India, according to a daily report.
Global coronavirus cases exceeded 11 million on Friday, according to a Reuters tally, marking another milestone in the spread of the disease that has killed more than half a million people in seven months.