India now 6th worst-hit by Covid-19, crosses Italy with over 235,000 cases

India went past Italy to become the sixth worst-hit nation by Covid-19, with the country registering a record single-day spike of 9,887 cases which pushed the nationwide tally to 236,657.

India’s death toll due to Covid-19 rose to 6,642, with a record increase of 294 deaths in the last 24 hours till Saturday 8 am.

The country has registered over 9,000 cases for the third day in a row.

India is now the sixth worst-affected nation in terms of coronavirus infection cases after the US, Brazil, Russia, Spain and the UK, according to Johns Hopkins University data.

The number of active Covid-19 cases stands at 115,942 in the country. A total of 114,073 people have recovered so far, with 4,611 Covid-19 patients having been cured in the last 24 hours, the Union Health Ministry said. “Thus, around 48.20 per cent patients have recovered so far,” a senior health ministry official said. The total confirmed cases also include foreigners.

The health ministry said cumulatively 45,24,317 samples have been tested so far with 137,938 samples tested in the last 24 hours.

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Of the total 6,642 fatalities, Maharashtra tops the tally with 2,849 deaths, followed by Gujarat with 1,190 deaths, Delhi with 708, Madhya Pradesh with 384, West Bengal with 366, Uttar Pradesh with 257, Tamil Nadu with 232, Rajasthan with 218, Telangana with 113 and Andhra Pradesh with 73 deaths.

The death toll reached 57 in Karnataka and 48 in Punjab.

Jammu and Kashmir has reported 36 fatalities due to the disease, Bihar 29, Haryana 24, Kerala 14, Uttarakhand 11, Odisha eight and Jharkhand has reported seven deaths so far. Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh have registered five fatalities each.

Assam has recorded four deaths, while Chhattisgarh has reported two deaths so far.

According to the ministry’s website, more than 70 per cent of the deaths are due to comorbidities.

The health ministry data updated on Saturday morning also stated that the highest number of confirmed cases in the country are from Maharashtra at 80,229, followed by Tamil Nadu at 28,694, Delhi at 26,334, Gujarat at 19,094, Rajasthan at 10,084, Uttar Pradesh at 9,733 and Madhya Pradesh at 8,996 cases.

The number of COVID-19 cases has gone up to 7,303 in West Bengal, 4,835 in Karnataka, 4,596 in Bihar and 4,303 in Andhra Pradesh.

It has risen to 3,597 in Haryana, 3,324 in Jammu and Kashmir, 3,290 in Telangana and 2,608 in Odisha.

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Punjab has reported 2,461 coronavirus infections so far, while Assam has 2,153 cases.

A total of 1,699 people have been infected with the virus in Kerala and 1,215 in Uttarakhand.

Jharkhand has registered 881 cases, Chhattisgarh has 879, Tripura 692, Himachal Pradesh 393, Chandigarh 304, Goa 196, Manipur 132 and Puducherry has 99 cases. Ladakh has 97 COVID-19 cases, Nagaland 94, Arunachal Pradesh 45, while Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Meghalaya have registered 33 infections each.

Mizoram has reported 22 cases, Dadar and Nagar Haveli 14, while Sikkim has reported three cases till now.

“A total of 8,192 cases are being reassigned to states,” the ministry said on its website, adding “our figures are being reconciled with the ICMR.” The state-wise distribution is subject to further verification and reconciliation, it added.

I warn you: Delhi CM to private hospitals

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday warned of strong action against some private hospitals allegedly refusing admission to Covid-19 patients and engaging in “black-marketing” of beds, and said his government is going to issue an order stating that hospitals cannot deny treatment to such people. Meanwhile, a five-member panel constituted by the government has suggested that the health infrastructure of the city should be used only for treating residents of the capital, sources said. An official said that a Cabinet meeting will be held on Sunday when a final decision on the report is expected to be taken.