New Delhi: India on Saturday recorded the highest ever spike in COVID-19 with 6,654 new cases.
Total number of cases in the country stands 1,25,101, including 69,597 active cases, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said in its Saturday morning update.
With 137 deaths in the last 24 hours, the death toll increased to 3,720 in the country.
"Thus, around 41.39 percent patients have recovered so far," a Health Ministry official said.
The total of 1,25,101 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus pandemic includes foreigners.
Meanwhile, the Railways has drawn up a schedule to operate 2,600 Shramik Special trains over the next 10 days across the country to ferry around 36 lakh migrant workers, stranded due to the COVID-19 lockdown, to their home states, Chairman of the Railway Board V K Yadav said on Saturday.
It has run 2,600 Shramik Special trains in the last 23 days carrying around 36 lakh stranded migrants, he said, adding 1,000 ticket counters have been opened across India and more will be opened soon.
"We have operated 260 Shramik Special trains every day on an average for the last four days, carrying three lakh passengers daily," Yadav said.
To a question on fares of the special trains to be operated from June 1, the Railway Board chairman said the railways was charging pre-lockdown normal fares only.
He reiterated that 85 per cent of the expense of Shramik Special trains is being borne by the Centre and the states are only paying 15 pc in the form of fares.
State-wise status
Of the 137 deaths reported in the country since Friday morning, 63 were in Maharashtra, 29 in Gujarat, 14 each from Delhi and Uttar Pradesh, six from West Bengal, four from Tamil Nadu, two each from Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh, and one from Haryana.
Of the total toll of 3,720, Maharashtra tops the tally with 1,517 deaths, followed by Gujarat at 802, Madhya Pradesh at 272, West Bengal at 265 and Delhi at 208.
The number of deaths due to the contagion in Rajasthan is 153, while 152 people died in Uttar Pradesh, 98 in Tamil Nadu and 55 in Andhra Pradesh.
The COVID-19 death toll reached 45 in Telangana, 41 in Karnataka and 39 in Punjab. There are 20 fatalities in Jammu and Kashmir, 16 in Haryana and 11 in Bihar.
Seven people have succumbed to the disease in Odisha, and four each in Kerala and Assam so far.
Jharkhand, Chandigarh and Himachal Pradesh each have recorded three deaths each, while there is a fatality each in Meghalaya and Uttarakhand, the ministry said.
More than 70 percent of the deaths are due to comorbidities, according to the ministry website.
The highest number of confirmed cases in the country are from Maharashtra at 44,582 followed by Tamil Nadu at 14,753, Gujarat at 13,268 and Delhi at 12,319.
There are 6,494 coronavirus cases Rajasthan, 6,170 in Madhya Pradesh and 5,735 in Uttar Pradesh. The number of infections has gone up to 3,332 in West Bengal, 2,709 in Andhra Pradesh and2,177 in Bihar.
As many as 2,029 people have been infected with the virus in Punjab, 1,761 in Telangana, 1,743 in Karnataka, 1,489 in Jammu and Kashmir and 1,189 in Odisha.
In Haryana , 1,067 people are afflicted with the deadly disease, while Kerala has 732 cases, followed by Jharkhand with 308 and 259 in Assam. Chandigarh has reported 218 cases, while 175 people have tested positive in Tripura and 172 Chhattisgarh.
There are 168 cases of the pathogen in Himachal Pradesh, 153 in Uttarakhand and 54 in Goa. Ladakh has reported 44 COVID-19 cases, while Andaman and Nicobar Islands has registered 33 infections.
Manipur and Puducherry have registered 26 cases each, followed by Meghalaya with 14. Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh, and Dadar and Nagar Haveli have reported a case each so far.
"1,899 cases are being reassigned to states," the ministry said on its website adding: "Our figures are being reconciled with the ICMR."
State-wise distribution is subject to further verification and reconciliation, it said.
