• Thursday, March 28, 2024

Coronavirus

India likely to surpass China in COVID-19 tally; total cases over 78,000

NEW DELHI, INDIA – MAY 13: Relatives prepare to bury the coffin containing the body of a 42 years old woman who died from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), as the country relaxed its lockdown restriction on May 13, 2020 in New Delhi, India. India has relaxed its lockdown restrictions even as the pace of infection has picked up. The COVID-19 disease is spreading at a worrying rate in the country and the death toll in India due to coronavirus stands at 2,415, but despite the grim statistics India has allowed most businesses and services to reopen. India was under a strict lockdown from March 25. (Photo by Yawar Nazir/Getty Images)

By: Aswathy Nair

THE total number of COVID-19 cases in India has jumped by 3,722 in past 24 hours, increasing the total number of confirmed cases to 78,003 on Thursday (14), said the health ministry.

The country is likely to surpass China in total number of cases soon. The overall confirmed cases on the mainland had reached 82,929, including 101 patients who were still being treated. Overall, the death toll in China stood at 4,633, according to official data.

India’s death toll has risen to 2,549 while 26,234 have been cured of the virus, said the ministry. As many as 134 deaths were registered in the past 24 hours. The total active coronavirus cases in the country were at 49,219, while 26,234 have been cured of the virus.

According to the health ministry data, Maharashtra has the highest number of coronavirus cases at 25,922, followed by Gujarat (9,267), Tamil Nadu (9,227), Delhi (7,998), Rajasthan (4,328), Madhya Pradesh (4,173) and Uttar Pradesh (3,729).

Meanwhile, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman unveiled the first installment of the economic package, as announced earlier by prime minister Narendra Modi.

A decision on the future course of action on the lockdown is expected in the next few days, though PM Modi has said that the ‘fourth’ phase would be different from the third one, in which some relaxations were already given.

Indian government has claimed that the testing capacity has increased to 100,000 tests per day.

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