Coronavirus outbreak: 71 dead in a day, India toll crosses 1,000-mark

Maharashtra tally rises to 9,915 with 597 new cases

Death toll due to Covid-19 rose to 1,008 and the number of cases climbed to 31,787 in the country on Wednesday, registering a record jump of 71 deaths in the last 24 hours, according to the Union Health Ministry. There has been a spike of 1,813 cases since Tuesday evening.

The number of active Covid-19 cases stand at 22,982, while 7,796 people have recovered, and one patient has migrated, the ministry said.

“Thus, around 24.52 per cent of the patients have recovered so far,” a Health Ministry official said.

The total number of cases include 111 foreign nationals.

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As many as 71 deaths were reported since early on Tuesday, of which 31 fatalities were from Maharashtra, 19 from Gujarat, six from Madhya Pradesh, five each from Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, two from West Bengal, and one each from Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab and Tamil Nadu.

Of the 1,008 deaths, Maharashtra tops the tally with 400 fatalities, followed by Gujarat at 181, Madhya Pradesh at 119, Delhi at 54, Rajasthan at 51, Uttar Pradesh at 36 and Andhra Pradesh at 31.

Meanwhile, the death of a 55-year-old Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel due to Covid-19 and about 50 others of his battalion in Delhi being infected with the disease have rung alarm bells in the establishment after it was found that “dichotomous” orders were issued in the country’s largest paramilitary force to check the spread of the pandemic.

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Separately, a CRPF jawan was also are among 12 people tested positive for coronavirus in Nashik district of Maharashtra, health officials said.

A dozen fresh cases of coronavirus have been reported from the district, 11 of them from Malegaon town alone.

Of the 11 coronavirus positive patients found in Malegaon, seven are police persons and a CRPF man, the officials said. With the new infections, the number of positive cases in the north Maharashtra district has gone up to 205, they said.

Punjab extends lockdown by two weeks

The Punjab government on Wednesday announced a four-hour daily relaxation in the curfew in the state from 7 am. “We have decided to give relaxation from 7 am to 11 am daily,” Chief Minister Amarinder Singh said. The CM, however, stressed that the curfew or lockdown would continue in the state for at least two weeks. Meanwhile, the Tamil Nadu government said the four-day total shutdown in Chennai, Madurai, and Coimbatore will not be extended. It also announced a relaxation in the business hours of shops selling essential items for April 30, saying they can function from 6 am to 5 pm.