Active cases in India climb to 1.8 lakh, 465 fatalities in last 24hrs

New Delhi: With 15,968 people testing positive for coronavirus in a single day, India's COVID-19 tally climbed to 4,56,183 on Wednesday while the death toll rose to 14,476 with 465 new fatalities, according to the Union Health Ministry data.

The country has witnessed a spike of 2,65,648 infections from June 1 till date, with Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Delhi, Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh contributing to almost 70 per cent of total cases.

The number of recoveries also continued to surge with 2,58,685 patients cured so far, while there were 1,83,022 active cases, according to the updated official figures at 8 am. One patient has migrated.

During the last 24 hours, a total of 10,496 COVID-19 patients have recovered, taking the recovery rate to 56.70 per cent amongst coronavirus infected patients, the ministry said.

According to the ICMR, a cumulative total of 73,52,911 samples have been tested up to June 23 with 2,15,195 samples being tested on Tuesday.

India is the fourth worst-hit nation by the pandemic after the US, Brazil and Russia.

According to the Johns Hopkins University, which has been compiling COVID-19 data from all over the world, India is at the eighth position in terms of the death toll.

Of the total 14,476 deaths reported so far, Maharashtra accounted for the highest 6,531 fatalities, followed by Delhi with 2,301 deaths, Gujarat with 1710, Tamil Nadu with 833, Uttar Pradesh with 588, West Bengal with 580, Madhya Pradesh with 525, Rajasthan with 365 and Telangana with 220 deaths.

The COVID-19 death toll reached 178 in Haryana, 150 in Karnataka, 119 in Andhra Pradesh, 105 in Punjab, 87 in Jammu and Kashmir, 56 in Bihar, 30 in Uttarakhand, 23 in Kerala and 17 in Odisha.

Chhattisgarh has registered 12 deaths, Jharkhand 11, Assam and Puducherry nine each, Himachal Pradesh - 8, Chandigarh six, while Goa, Meghalaya, Tripura and Ladakh have reported one fatality each, according to the health ministry.

More than 70 per cent deaths took place due to comorbidities, it said.

Maharashtra has reported the highest number of cases at 1,39,010, followed by Delhi at 66,602, Tamil Nadu at 64,603, Gujarat at 28,371, Uttar Pradesh at 18,893, Rajasthan at 15,627 and West Bengal at 14,728, according to ministry data.

The number of COVID-19 cases has gone up to 12,261 in Madhya Pradesh, 11,520 in Haryana, 10,002 in Andhra Pradesh, 9,721 in Karnataka and 9,553 in Telangana.

It has risen to 8,153 in Bihar, 6,236 in Jammu and Kashmir, 5,831 in Assam and 5,470 in Odisha. Punjab has reported 4,397 novel coronavirus infections so far, while Kerala has 3,451cases.

A total of 2,535 people have been infected by the virus in Uttarakhand, 2,362 in Chhattisgarh, 2,185 in Jharkhand, 1,259 in Tripura, 932 in Ladakh, 921 in Manipur, 909 in Goa and 775 in Himachal Pradesh.

Chandigarh has recorded 418 COVID-19 cases, Puducherry has 402 cases, Nagaland has 330, Mizoram has 142 and Arunachal Pradesh has 148. Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu together have reported 120 COVID-19 cases.

Sikkim has recorded 79 cases, Andaman and Nicobar Islands registered 50 infections, while Meghalaya has recorded 46 cases.

"Our figures are being reconciled with the ICMR (Indian Council of Medical Research)," the ministry said, adding 8,015 cases are being reassigned to states.

State-wise distribution is subject to further verification and reconciliation, it added.

1,000th COVID testing lab

With an aim to intensify COVID-19 testing across the country, the ICMR on Tuesday validated the 1,000th testing laboratory, while the number of RT-PCR tests for detection of the disease crossed the seven million-mark.

Out of these 1,000 COVID-19 testing laboratories, 730 are in government setups and 270 laboratories are in the private sector.

According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), a total of 71,37,716 samples have been tested till June 22. As many as 1,87,223 samples were tested on Monday alone.

"This is an important milestone in the fight against coronavirus. Since the beginning, we have been focusing on 3Ts-- testing, tracking and treating -- to fight the disease. Through increased testing, we are fighting this virus," ICMR Director General Dr. Balram Bhargava said.

"Our goal was to establish a lab in every district of the country, which we have achieved to a large extent," he said.

The country is now testing over 1.90 lakh samples every day.

Besides validating coronavirus testing laboratories, the ICMR has also appealed to people to stay safe and take all possible steps to keep the virus at bay, especially for the elderly, pregnant women and children.

"Efforts of ICMR can be understood from the fact that coronavirus testing lab has been established in the remotest parts of the country. For example, a COVID-19 testing laboratory has been established at an altitude of 18,000 feet in Leh," the apex health research body said.