More on Covid-19

NEW DELHI: The Covid-19 outbreak in Maharashtra, by far the worst-affected state in the country, turned grimmer on Thursday when it reported an explosion of new cases. As many 778 persons tested positive in the state during the past 24 hours, taking the national count of new cases on Thursday to 1,755, the highest single-day surge so far.With this, the number of coronavirus cases in India has jumped from 21,358 on Wednesday to 23,113, an 8.2% rise as per latest reports from states. The staggering spike in Maharashtra was not just the highest reported by a state in a day, beating its own previous record of 552, Mumbai too recorded its biggest rise in cases at 522.While Gujarat too continues to report high numbers (217 new cases), Madhya Pradesh recorded a surge in infections late on Thursday after a relative lull in the past few days, with 184 new cases.Delhi similarly showed a spike after several days of low numbers, with 128 more people testing positive in the last 24 hours and two deaths.The number of deaths due to coronavirus has been gradually rising. On Thursday, 43 deaths were reported from across the country, a majority of these from Maharashtra (14), Gujarat (9), MP (5) and UP (4).Exactly a month after the lockdown, Maharashtra’s total case tally on Thursday stood at 6,427 and deaths at 283. The lion share of positive cases came from Mumbai, which breached the 4,000-mark to record 4,206 cases.Gujarat also recorded death of nine patients on Thursday, taking the death toll to 112. The deaths were recorded from Ahmedabad (seven), Surat and Vadodara (one each).Madhya Pradesh, which appeared to have been gaining control of the outbreak after a rash of cases which had seen the patient count rising by over 350 in a day, may again be slipping back. The state reported not just 184 new cases but also five more deaths from the virus. Andhra Pradesh registered its highest single-day spike in cases with 80 people testing Covid-19 positive, and three deaths. Bihar too saw a spike in the infection, with 29 new cases in the state, taking the total number to 170.In Rajasthan , a 75-year-old man died of Covid-19 on Wednesday. However, his report was issued on Thursday, a day after his death, taking the state’s toll to 28. The state recorded 76 new cases also, taking the total cases to 1964.Telangana is inching towards 1,000 coronavirus positive cases with 27 new cases reported on Thursday. One person succumbed to the virus, taking the death toll to 25 in the state.Assam, meanwhile, reported its 35th Covid-19 case, after many days of zero new infections.Odisha on Thursday announced a complete shutdown of three districts, Balasore, Bhadrak and Jajpur, for 60 hours after they witnessed a spurt in Covid-19 cases. The government move comes hours after six more persons – four from Jajpur and two from Balasore – tested positive for the virus, raising the total number of Covid-19 positive cases in the state to 89.In Jharkhand, the number of Covid-19 cases in Jharkhand crossed the 50-mark with seven more persons testing positive for the novel coronavirus on Thursday, taking the tally to 56. Of these, 45 are active cases, while nine have recovered and two died during treatment.The number of cases in the state has doubled in eight days. The state had recorded its 28th Covid-19 patient on April 15 — 16 days after the coronavirus made its entry in Jharkhand on March 31.The J&K administration reported 20 new positive cases of the virus, taking the total number of infected people to 427.