COVID-19 death toll rises to 169, cases surge past 5,800 in India

New Delhi, April 9

The death toll due to the novel coronavirus rose to 169 and the number of cases climbed to 5,865 in the country on Thursday, registering an increase of 591 cases and 20 deaths in the last 24 hours, according to the Union Health Ministry.

While the number of active COVID-19 cases is 5,218, as many as 477 people have been cured and discharged and one has migrated, the ministry said.

Of the 20 deaths reported in the last 24 hours, eight were from Maharashtra, three each from Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh, two from Jammu and Kashmir and one each from Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.

Maharashtra has reported the highest number of COVID-19 deaths at 72, followed by Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh with each recording 16 deaths and Delhi at nine. Punjab and Tamil Nadu have reported eight fatalities each while Telangana has recorded seven deaths.

West Bengal and Karnataka have registered five deaths each. Andhra Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Uttar Pradesh have reported four deaths each, while Haryana and Rajasthan have recorded three deaths each.

Two deaths have been reported from Kerala, while Bihar, Himachal Pradesh and Odisha have recorded one fatality each, according to the health ministry data.

The total number of cases (5,865) includes 71 foreign nationals.

The death toll in the country due to COVID-19 was 149 on Wednesday.

However, a PTI tally of the figures reported by various states as on Thursday evening showed at least 196 deaths due to the deadly virus.

There is a lag in the Union Health Ministry figures, as compared to the number of deaths announced by different states, which officials attribute to the procedural delay in assigning the cases to individual states.

According to the ministry's data, the highest number of confirmed cases in the country is from Maharashtra at 1,135, followed by Tamil Nadu at 738 and Delhi with 669 cases.

The number of cases has risen to 442 in Telangana, while Uttar Pradesh has 410 cases and Rajasthan 383. Andhra Pradesh has reported 348 cases, while Kerala has 345 COVID-19 patients.

The number of coronavirus cases has risen to 259 in Madhya Pradesh, 181 in Karnataka, 179 in Gujarat and 169 in Haryana.

Jammu and Kashmir has 158 cases, West Bengal 103 and Punjab has 101 COVID-19 patients.

Odisha has reported 42 coronavirus cases, 39 people have been infected with the virus in Bihar, while Uttarakhand has 35 COVID-19 patients and Assam 28.

Chandigarh and Himachal Pradesh have 18 cases each, while Ladakh has 14  and Jharkhand 13. 

Eleven cases have been reported from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, while Chhattisgarh has registered 10 cases. 

Goa has reported seven COVID-19 cases, Puducherry five, Manipur two while Tripura, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh have reported a case each.

"State-wise distribution is subject to further verification and reconciliation," the ministry said on its website. — PTI

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