Corona kills record 3,915 people, infects 4.14 lakh in 24 hours

New Delhi: Coronavirus is making new records with each passing day in India. COVID-19 killed record 3,915 people and infected 4,14,188 in a span of 24 hours while the active cases crossed 36 lakh-mark on Friday.

India's total tally of COVID-19 cases climbed to 2,14,91,598, while the death toll has increased to 2,34,083.

Registering a steady increase, the active cases have increased to 36,45,164 comprising 16.96 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has dropped to 81.95 per cent.

The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 1,76,12,351, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.09 per cent, the data stated.

Ten states, including Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi, account for 71.81 per cent of the new COVID-19 cases reported in a day. Karnataka, Kerala, Bihar, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan are the other states in the list of 10.

One-fourth of total active cases concentrated in only 10 districts. Bengaluru Urban, Pune, Delhi, Ahmedabad, Ernakulam, Nagpur, Mumbai, Kozhikode, Jaipur and Thane are the 10 districts that account for 25 per cent of the total active cases in the country.

In a media briefing, Additional Secretary in the health ministry Arti Ahuja said the COVID-19 case positivity is more than 15 per cent in more than 24 states and union territories including Goa, West Bengal, Karnataka, Delhi, Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh, while it is between 5 to 15 per cent in nine states.

The case positivity is less than five per cent in three states.

In Goa, case positivity is 48.5 per cent, Haryana (36.1), West Bengal (33.1), Karnataka, Delhi and Rajasthan (29.9 per cent each), Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh (27.9 per cent) and Maharashtra 23.5 per cent.

Twelve states — Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, Haryana and Bihar — have over one lakh active COVID-19 cases each at present, while the count is between 50,000 and one lakh in seven.

Ahuja said Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand are among states and union territories showing continued platelayer or decrease in daily new COVID-19 cases.

However, Karnataka, Kerala, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Haryana, Bihar, Punjab, Assam and Odisha are among those showing an upward trend in daily new cases of the infection remains a cause of concern, she added.

Bengaluru Urban and Mysuru; Chennai; Kozhikode, Kottayam, Alappuzha Ernakulam, Thrissur, Malappuram and Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala; Gurgaon; Patna; North 24 Parganas and Kolkata; Chittoor, Guntur and Kurnool in Andhra Pradesh are some of the districts showing continued increase in cases since last two weeks, Ahuja said.

According to the ICMR, 29,86,01,699 samples have been tested up to May 6 with 18,26,490 samples being tested on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Friday announced lockdown like restrictions with more stringent curbs from May 10 to May 24 in view of alarming rise in COVID cases. There was already a curfew in place in the state from April 27, which was to end on May 12.

The Mizoram government too on Friday announced a 7-day "total lockdown" commencing from 4 am of May 10 to curtail the spread COVID-19 in the state.

The "total lockdown" will remain in force till 4 am of May 17 and no resident of the capital and district headquarter towns will be allowed to come out of their homes, a government order said.