New cases across the country top 750 in a day for first time

DurgeshNandan.Jha@timesgroup.com

New Delhi:10.04.2020

India’s Covid-19 count rose sharply on Thursday with states confirming 781 new cases – by far the highest singleday tally and 30% more than the previous highest of 598 recorded on Wednesday, as per confirmed reports collated by TOIfrom the states.

Maharashtra led the surge with 229 fresh cases — the first time any state has reported more than 150 new cases — followed by Tamil Nadu (96), Rajasthan (80), Gujarat (76) and Delhi (51).

As many as 31deaths were reported in the country, taking the pandemic’s toll to 232. These include 15 from Maharashtra, and three in Delhi – two at Ram Manohar Lohia and one at Apollo.

The Covid-19 outbreak in Maharashtra continues to be worrisome. The state now accounts for 20% of all cases in India and, more worryingly, more than 40% of all coronavirus deaths. The state’s case fatality rate (CFR) rose from 6.2% on Wednesday to 7.1% on Thursday, more than double that of India’s 2.9%.

Gujarat records biggest spike with 76 new cases in 24 hrs

Gujarat also recorded its biggest spike with 76 new cases in the last 24 hours. This is 29% of the total cases registered so far. Ahmedabad, a national Covid-19 hotspot, has so far reported 143 cases, more than half of Gujarat’s total. In Rajasthan, 80 fresh cases for Covid-19 were recorded, which is also the highest single day tally for the state. The total count of the infected persons with the virus has surged to 463. There were two deaths in the state that of a 76-year-old man died in Jodhpur and a 65-year-old woman from Ramganj in Jaipur.

Madhya Pradesh witnessed two fresh Covid-19 deaths including that of a private medical practitioner taking the death toll in the state to 32. The doctor’s children, who live in Australia, watched the process of handover of his body on the phone.

Chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan condoled his death and tweeted: “People like him won’t be forgotten. He sacrificed his life in service of people and fighting Covid-19.” One Covid-19 death was also recorded in Telangana where a 54-year-old woman died and 18 others tested positive for the disease taking the states tally to 471 cases and 12 deaths. While the death toll rose to 12, authorities said they were slightly relieved that for the first time in one week, the state registered less than 20 cases.