India sees deadliest 24 hours with highest deaths, 9,851 new cases

  • India now has the seventh highest number of cases in the world after the United States, Brazil, Russia, United Kingdom, Spain and Italy
  • The deadly novel coronavirus has claimed 6,348 lives in the country, 273 coronavirus patients died in last 24 hours

The coronavirus pandemic in India touched another new peak. The states witnessed the biggest jump in COVID-19 count with 9,851 new cases in last 24 hours. The fatalities from COVID-19 infection increased to 273 on Thursday — the highest number of deaths in a single day.

The total number of coronavirus cases in India stood at 226,770. The deadly novel coronavirus claimed 6,348 lives so far.

Maharashtra continued to add the most number of coronavirus cases in a day. The state confirmed 2,933 coronavirus cases on Thursday. The fatalities from the coronavirus infection in Maharashtra were on a steady rise. The state confirmed 2,710 deaths since outbreak, the highest in India.

Delhi saw an explosion of coronavirus cases in this week. With this, the total number of coronavirus cases in Delhi crossed 25,000-mark. The coronavirus fatalities in the state rose to 650.

The coronavirus cases in Tamil Nadu continued to surged. The state’s COVID-19 tally rose to 27,256 after over 1,200 people had tested positive for the disease.

Union health minister Harsh Vardhan on Thursday advised the Delhi government to ramp up testing, surveillance, contact tracing and stringent containment and perimeter control. “As all districts of union territory of Delhi are now affected by COVID-19, the rising cases, high positivity rates and low testing levels in many districts are worrisome,” he said.

India now has the seventh highest number of cases in the world after the United States, Brazil, Russia, United Kingdom, Spain and Italy. However, the health ministry earlier said that India’s vast population should be taken into account while discussing COVID-19 cases in the country.

Indian Council of Medical Research scientist Nivedita Gupta earlier said, “We are very far away from the peak. Our preventive measures to curtail the disease are very effective and we are better positioned in comparison with other countries.”

On the brighter side, 109,462 people recovered from the disease. While the number of active coronavirus cases in India increased to 110,960. Over 48% of the total coronavirus cases were cured so far.

The central government on Thursday announced new rules for allowing shopping malls, restaurants, hotels and places of worship to open gradually following the nationwide COVID-19 lockdown. The guidelines include measures like staggering visitors to malls, disposable menu and 50% seating capacity at eateries and restaurants. All the establishments that come under containment zones, however, will however remain closed. Starting from Monday, India will take another step towards “unlocking” the country and economic activities that had come to a standstill due to pandemic.

Coronavirus treatment:

India approved Gilead Sciences Inc’s antiviral drug remdesivir for emergency use in treating COVID-19 patients. Remdesivir is the first drug to show improvement in coronavirus patients in formal clinical trials.

Meanwhile, the World Health Organisation (WHO) announced it will be resuming clinical trials of the controversial anti-malaria drug Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) to evaluate whether it can be used to prevent and treat COVID-19. WHO in May suspended trials after a study published in a medical journal The Lancet suggested that the drug could increase the risk of death among patients suffering from the novel coronavirus. The prominent medical journal on Thursday retracted a study.

With inputs from LiveMint