Covid-19 cases in Maharashtra, the state most affected by the pandemic, exceeded one million (AFP)
NEW DELHI: COVID-19 cases in Maharashtra, the state hardest hit by the pandemic, surpassed 1 million on Friday, even as daily cases across the country drew slightly closer to the 1 lakh mark and deaths from the virus rose to a new record.
Maharashtra recorded nearly 25,000 new infections (24,886) on Friday, accounting for more than a quarter of the national count of 97,937 new cases, based on TOI data collected from state governments. Both counts were the highest on a single day so far.
Meanwhile, the daily death toll from Covid-19 in the country surpassed 1,200 for the first time, rising to 1,249 on Friday. The daily toll surpassed 1,000 for the fifth day in a row amid a surge in deaths in several states, again led by Maharashtra, which reported 442 deaths (including 49 major deaths) on Friday.
India’s previous highest case count in one day was 97,399 on Wednesday, according to TOI data. For the third day in a row, the account has stayed close to the 1 lakh mark. Outside of India, the highest single-day case count is 78,427 recorded in the US on July 25, according to ourworldindata.org.
In addition to Maharashtra, six other states reported their highest peak of infections on Friday: Uttar Pradesh (7,103 new cases), Odisha (3,996), Punjab (2,526), Madhya Pradesh (2,240), Rajasthan (1,660) and Gujarat (1,344). But unlike Maharashtra, where the count was 1,000 more than its previous record of 23,816 (on Wednesday), the other states saw incremental increases.
With over 1 million cases, Maharashtra accounts for nearly 22% of India’s total Covid-19 cases of 46,53,193. In terms of daily cases, the state, with a record 24,886 cases in a single day, accounts for every eighth new Covid patient in the world (the global daily average is 2 lakh of cases).
Maharashtra is also slowly closing in on Russia, which, with 10.5 million cases, is the fourth most affected country in the world. The total number of cases in the state is now 10,15,681, the state government update said.
Andhra Pradesh reported 9,999 Covid-19 cases on Friday and 77 deaths as authorities analyzed more than 71,000 samples across the state in the past 24 hours.
While the number of cumulative cases in Andhra Pradesh rose to 5,47,686 and the death toll rose to 4,779, authorities said they analyzed 71,137 samples on Friday, bringing the overall test record to 44.5 lakh of samples up to now. The daily rate of positivity for Covid-19 cases is now around 14-15%, up from 17-18% about a week ago. The overall rate of positive cases is 12.3% compared to the national average of 8.43%.
Yet another record single-day increase of 3,996 new infections brought Odisha’s number of Covid-19 cases to 1.08,001 on Friday, even as two more chief ministers Naveen PatnaikThe council tested positive for the virus. Fourteen more died of Covid-19, increasing the death toll in the state to 605. The state also witnessed the highest recovery in a day of 4,061 patients that day.
The Minister of Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare, Ranendra Pratap Swain, and the Minister of Child and Women’s Development, Tukuni Sahu, were among those who tested positive, bringing the number of ministers in Odisha infected with the virus to six. until now.
Bihar’s Covid count jumped to 1,55,445 on Friday with 1,710 more people testing positive. The health department confirmed 12 more deaths from Covid in the last 24 hours. With this, the Covid toll in the state has increased to 797. However, with 1,39,458 recoveries, active cases stand at 15,188 in the state.
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