COVID-19: India records 507 deaths in single day, 18,653 new infections
New Delhi: India registered the highest single-day COVID-19 deaths at 507 on Wednesday with Maharashtra, Delhi and Tamil Nadu accounting for over 70 per cent of the fatalities, while 18,653 new infections were reported taking the total tally to 5,85,493, according to the Union Health Ministry data.
This is the fifth consecutive day that coronavirus infections have increased by more than 18,000. The country has seen a surge of 3,94,958 infections from June 1 till date.
The number of active cases stands at 2,20,114, while 3,47,978 people have recovered, and one patient has migrated, according to the updated data at 8 am.
"Thus, around 59.43 per cent of patients have recovered so far," an official said. The total number of confirmed cases include foreigners.
Of the 507 deaths reported in the last 24 hours, 245 are from Maharashtra, 62 from Delhi, 60 from Tamil Nadu, 25 from Uttar Pradesh, 20 from Karnataka, 19 from Gujarat, 15 from West Bengal, eight each from Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, seven each from Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, six each from Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab, five from Bihar, four from Haryana, two each from Kerala, Odisha, Puducherry and Uttarakhand and one each in Assam and Himachal Pradesh.
The country had recorded a massive spike of 2,003 deaths on June 17 following a data reconciliation exercise carried out by states and UTs which brought to the fore large number of fatalities previously reported in Maharashtra and Delhi which were not attributed to COVID-19.
According to the ICMR, a cumulative total of 88,26,585 samples have been tested up to June 30, with 2,17,931 samples being tested on Tuesday.
Of the total 17,400 deaths reported so far, Maharashtra accounted for the highest 7,855 fatalities followed by Delhi with 2,742 deaths, Gujarat with 1,846, Tamil Nadu with 1,201, Uttar Pradesh with 697, West Bengal with 668, Madhya Pradesh with 572, Rajasthan with 413 and Telangana with 260 deaths.
The COVID-19 death toll reached 246 in Karnataka, 236 in Haryana, 187 in Andhra Pradesh, 144 in Punjab, 101 in Jammu and Kashmir, 67 in Bihar, 41 in Uttarakhand, 25 in Odisha and 24 in Kerala.
Jharkhand has registered 15 deaths, Chhattisgarh 13, Assam and Puducherry 12 each, Himachal Pradesh 10, Chandigarh six, Goa three and Meghalaya, Tripura, Ladakh and Arunachal Pradesh 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 1,74,761, followed by Tamil Nadu at 90,167, Delhi at 87,360, Gujarat at 32,557, Uttar Pradesh at 23,492, West Bengal at 18,559 and Rajasthan at 18,014 according to the ministry data.
The number of COVID-19 cases has gone up to 16,339 in Telangana, 15,242 in Karnataka, 14,595 in Andhra Pradesh, 14,548 in Haryana, and 13,593 in Madhya Pradesh.
It has risen to 10,043 in Bihar, 8,227 in Assam, 7,497 in Jammu and Kashmir and 7,065 in Odisha. Punjab has reported 5,568 novel coronavirus infections so far, while Kerala has 4,442 cases.
A total of 2,881 people have been infected by the virus in Uttarakhand, 2,860 in Chhattisgarh, 2,490 in Jharkhand, 1,388 in Tripura, 1,315 in Goa,1,234 in Manipur, 973 in Ladakh and 953 in Himachal Pradesh.
Puducherry has recorded 714 COVID-19 cases, Nagaland 459, Chandigarh 440 and Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu together have reported 213 COVID-19 cases.
Arunachal Pradesh reported 191 cases, Mizoram has 160 cases, Andaman and Nicobar Islands has 97, Sikkim has registered 89 infections so far, while Meghalaya has recorded 52 cases.
"Our figures are being reconciled with the ICMR," the ministry said, adding that 6,915 cases are being reassigned to states.
State-wise distribution is subject to further verification and reconciliation, it added.
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Putin meets Iran's FM Araghchi, says Russia ready to do its best to help bring peace to West Asia
Moscow (PTI): Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Monday met Russian President Vladimir Putin, who hailed the Iranian people for fighting bravely and heroically for their sovereignty and said Moscow is ready to do its best to help bring peace to West Asia as soon as possible.
Araghchi, who held talks with Omani and Pakistani leadership before arriving in Russia, met Putin in St. Petersburg and thanked him for supporting Iran, state-owned TASS news agency reported.
"Russia is ready to do everything in its power to ensure that peace in the Middle East is achieved as soon as possible," Putin said during his meeting with Araghchi, which was also attended by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
Revealing that he received a message from Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei last week, Putin asked Araghchi to convey his "gratitude for this message and best wishes for his health and well-being."
He praised the Iranian people for fighting "bravely and heroically" for their sovereignty, Iran's state-run PRESS TV reported.
"We really hope that, based on the courage and desire for independence, the Iranian people, under the guidance of the new leader, will weather this difficult period of trials and peace will come,” Putin said.
He also stressed that Russia “intends to maintain” its strategic relations with Iran.
Araghchi said that the world witnessed Iran’s strength in countering the US during the recent war, and that the Islamic Republic is a "stable and powerful establishment."
"With their courage, the Iranian people succeeded in resisting the US aggression and will be able to endure it,” he said.
He said that it became clear that Iran has “great friends and allies” like Russia, and conveyed “warmest greetings” from Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei and President Masoud Pezeshkian to the Russian leader.
Araghchi said relations between Moscow and Tehran represent a “strategic partnership at the highest level” and will continue to develop "regardless of circumstances."
"We are grateful to you for the solid and strong positions in support of the Islamic Republic of Iran," he said.
Foreign Minister Lavrov said that the talks between President Putin and the Iranian Foreign Minister were "useful and constructive."
Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov later said that Russia is "ready to provide any good offices, any mediation services that are acceptable to the parties."
"We will be ready to do everything so that ultimately peace ensues, guaranteed peace, and that there is no return to hostilities," Peskov was quoted as saying by TASS.
He was asked how Moscow can assist in future negotiations on the Iranian settlement.
Araghchi arrived in Russia after his whirlwind trip to Islamabad, which, according to him, was “very productive” and involved “good consultations" with Pakistan's Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir, amid uncertainty over the second round of peace talks to resolve the war in West Asia.
"We held good consultations with our friends in Pakistan. The trip was successful. We assessed the outcome of our recent (meetings) and discussed in what direction and under what conditions talks can move on,” Araghchi said in a video posted on his Telegram channel upon his arrival in St Petersburg.
Referring to the second round of talks between the US and Iran to resolve the conflict in West Asia, Araghchi said: "Developments have taken place in the negotiations."
"Despite some progress in earlier rounds, the talks failed to reach their objectives due to the Americans' approach, the excessive demands they made, and the wrong approaches they adopted. Therefore, it was necessary to consult with our friends in Pakistan to review the latest situation,” Iran's official news agency IRNA quoted him as saying.
He said that the trip to Pakistan was a good opportunity to review developments related to the US-Israeli war against Iran, expressing confidence that “these consultations and coordination between the two countries will be highly significant.”
Araghchi arrived at St. Petersburg's Pulkovo Airport early Monday, where he was welcomed by Russian officials and Iran’s ambassador to Russia, Kazem Jalali, the report said.
The first round of peace talks between Iran and the US, held on April 11 and 12, failed to bring the desired result for the parties to the conflict.
The Iranian minister arrived in Islamabad for the second time on Sunday after a short visit to Oman, where he held talks with Sultan Haitham bin Tariq al-Said on security in the Strait of Hormuz and diplomatic efforts to end the Iran-US conflict.
After Araghchi left Pakistan for Oman on Saturday, President Donald Trump announced that US negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner would no longer be going to Islamabad for talks with Iran, contending that Washington held all the cards on the matter.
Trump on Sunday reiterated that the US and Iranian officials can talk by phone for a peace solution to the conflict.
On Tuesday, Trump extended the two-week ceasefire with Iran indefinitely to give Tehran more time to prepare a unified proposal to end the war, just hours before the truce was set to expire.
The war began when the US and Israel jointly attacked Iran on February 28, killing Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and several top commanders. The retaliation by the Islamic Republic extended the war to the entire Gulf region.
