India now sixth worst-hit nation by COVID-19, surpasses Italy with an infection tally of 2,36,657
New Delhi: India went past Italy to become the sixth worst-hit nation by the COVID-19 pandemic with the country registering a record single-day spike of 9,887 cases which pushed the nationwide tally to 2,36,657.
India's death toll due to COVID-19 rose to 6,642 with a record increase of 294 deaths in the 24 hours till Saturday 8 AM. India has registered over 9,000 cases for the third day in a row.
India is now the sixth worst-affected nation in terms of coronavirus infection cases after the US, Brazil, Russia, Spain, and the UK, according to Johns Hopkins University data.
The number of active COVID-19 cases stood at 1,15,942, while 1,14,072 people have recovered and one patient has migrated, the Union Health Ministry said.
"Thus, around 48.20 percent of patients have recovered so far," a senior health ministry official said.
The total confirmed cases include foreigners.
Of the 294 deaths reported since Friday morning, 139 were in Maharashtra, 58 in Delhi, 35 in Gujarat, 12 each in Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh, 11 in West Bengal, eight in Telangana, seven in Madhya Pradesh, five in Rajasthan, two in Andhra Pradesh and one each in Jammu and Kashmir, Odisha, Punjab Jharkhand, and Uttarakhand.
Of the total 6,642 fatalities, Maharashtra tops tally with 2,849 deaths followed by Gujarat with 1,190 deaths, Delhi with 708, Madhya Pradesh with 384, West Bengal with 366, Uttar Pradesh with 257, Tamil Nadu with 232, Rajasthan with 218, Telangana with 113 and Andhra Pradesh with 73 deaths.
The death toll reached 57 in Karnataka and 48 in Punjab.
Jammu and Kashmir have reported 36 fatalities due to the disease, Bihar has 29, Haryana has 24 deaths, Kerala has 14, Uttarakhand has 11, Odisha has eight and Jharkhand has reported seven deaths so far.
Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh have registered five COVID-19 fatalities each. Assam has recorded four deaths, while Chhattisgarh has reported two deaths so far.
Meghalaya and Ladakh have reported one COVID-19 fatality each, according to the ministry data.
According to the ministry's website, more than 70 percent of the deaths are due to comorbidities.
According to the health ministry data updated in the morning, the highest number of confirmed cases in the country are from Maharashtra at 80,229, followed by Tamil Nadu at 28,694, Delhi at 26,334, Gujarat at 19,094, Rajasthan at 10,084, Uttar Pradesh at 9,733 and Madhya Pradesh at 8,996.
The number of COVID-19 cases has gone up to 7,303 in West Bengal, 4,835 in Karnataka, 4,596 in Bihar, and 4,303 in Andhra Pradesh.
It has risen to 3,597 in Haryana, 3,324 in Jammu and Kashmir, 3,290 in Telangana, and 2,608 in Odisha.
Punjab has reported 2,461 coronavirus infections so far, while Assam has 2,153 cases. A total of 1,699 people have been infected with the virus in Kerala and 1,215 in Uttarakhand.
Jharkhand has registered 881 cases, Chhattisgarh has 879, Tripura has 692, Himachal Pradesh has 393, Chandigarh has 304 cases, Goa has 196, Manipur has 132 and Puducherry has 99 cases.
Ladakh has 97 COVID-19 cases, Nagaland has 94, Arunachal Pradesh has 45, while Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Meghalaya have registered 33 infections each.
Mizoram has reported 22 cases and Dadar and Nagar Haveli have 14 cases, while Sikkim has reported three cases till now.
"8,192 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.
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Modi inciting people, dividing society, alleges Kharge; Uddhav says 'acche din' coming after June 4
Mumbai (PTI): Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Saturday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of inciting people and dividing society through his election speeches.
Kharge was addressing a press conference of the INDIA bloc, where NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar, Shiv Sena (UBT) president Uddhav Thackeray and other leaders were present. The opposition alliance held an election rally in the city on Friday.
"No prime minister before Modi has ever indulged in inciting people like he has been doing. He speaks about democracy repeatedly but doesn’t adhere to the tenets of democracy," Kharge said.
Responding to a question on PM Modi' statement that the Congress will bulldoze the Ram mandir in Ayodhya and also restore Article 370 if the INDIA bloc is voted to power, Kharge said, "We have never used a bulldozer on anyone. Modi has the habit of lying and inciting people about things which Congress will never do or the things that are impossible to be implemented."
Asked about his party's stand on Article 370, Kharge said , "I am not answerable to Modi. We will implement what we have promised in our manifesto."
Attacking the PM further, he said, "Wherever he goes, he tries to create division, speaks of dividing society."
PM Modi had described the Congress' manifesto as Muslim League manifesto, but now he says it is a Maoist manifesto, Kharge added.
The Congress chief assured that reservation as enshrined in the Constitution will continue and nobody can touch it.
Speaking on the occasion, Thackeray said, "'Achche din' are coming from June 4 (when Lok Sabha poll results will be declared) when INDIA bloc-led government takes charge."
"PM Modi calls us 'nakli' (fake) Shiv Sena, tomorrow he may call RSS as 'nakli Sangh'," the former chief minister said.
The BJP is floating 'Pakistan flags in our rally' narrative to divert people's attention from issues like jobs, he alleged.
Pawar said that after coming to power, the INDIA bloc government's duty will be to protect all religious places in the country.
Kharge noted that if elected, the opposition alliance's government will implement a simple, single rate GST, replacing the present GST.
"We introduced Food Security Act, but PM Modi is taking credit for free ration supply," he alleged.
