NEW DELHI, Apr 28: The nationwide tally of confirmed coronavirus infections crossed 31,000 today with more than 1,000 deaths as Maharahstra, Gujarat and some other States reported more fatalities.
As per the latest figures announced by various States and Union Territories, more than 31,200 people have been tested positive for this deadly virus across the country. At least 1,005 have died, but nearly 7,200 have recovered too.
The figures suggest that an average of about one in 25 has tested positive so far. Among those having tested positive, one in 30 has died on an average, while the ratio of those having recovered is approximately one in four.
In its 5 PM update, the Ministry said the COVID-19 death toll has risen to 937, after more than 50 deaths since Monday evening including in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, while the number of cases has climbed to 29,974. According to the Ministry data, 1,594 new cases have been reported since Monday evening.
The number of active COVID-19 cases stands at 22,010, while 7,026 people have recovered and one patient has migrated, the ministry said.
However, a PTI tally of figures reported by various States and UTs, as of 11.30 PM, showed 31,236 confirmed cases, including 1,005 deaths and nearly 7,200 recoveries.
On a positive note, Agarwal pointed said 20 nations, which have reported maximum number of COVID-19 cases, have seen 200 times more deaths and 84 times more cases than India.
The combined population of these 20 countries is almost equal to that of India, the official said, while attributing this to India’s response being “proactive, preemptive and graded towards tackling the challenge of COVID-19 crisis”.
Maharashtra has reported the maximum cases at over 9,300 and at least 400 deaths. Gujarat has over 3,700 cases, while Delhi also has more than 3,300 confirmed cases. Each of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh have reported more than 2,000 cases.
A 55-year-old Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel also died on Tuesday due to coronavirus infection. This is the first COVID-19 death reported in paramilitary forces.
A nationwide lockdown has been imposed till May 3 to check the virus spread, which has claimed more than two lakh lives worldwide and over 30 lakh people have got infected since it first emerged in China last December.
Several countries have implemented lockdown and other containment measures, though some of them including New Zealand, France and Switzerland have begun relaxing those curbs.
In coming days, some clarity is expected about the ongoing lockdown in India.
In Tamil Nadu, Chief Minister K Palaniswami said COVID-19 cases are on the rise in the state as people have a casual attitude to norms like social distancing and do not understand the gravity of the contagion.
The State reported 121 more people testing positive on Tuesday, taking the State’s tally to 2,058, while a 68-year old man died of coronavirus in Chennai. The new positive cases included two police personnel and a flower vendor in Chennai.
In Assam, where few new cases have emerged in the last few days, two persons tested positive, taking its total to 37. Some of the north-eastern states have not reported a single case for quite some time.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Adityanath asked officials to increase testing capacity. He also sought preparation of work plans to restart industrial units after May 3 and for giving employment to migrant labourers.
In Surat, Gujarat, hundreds of migrant workers came out on roads and vandalised the office of an under-construction building and some vehicles while demanding that they be sent back to their native places.
West Bengal saw attacks on some policemen trying to enforce lockdown in ‘red zone’ Howarah district. The state reported 28 new cases, taking its total to 663, while the number of fatalities rose to 22 with two new deaths.(PTI)
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