Coronavirus: India records over 2,000 deaths in a day for the first time as states revise tolls
India’s case count reached 3,54,065 on Wednesday and the toll went up to 11,903.
India reported 2,003 coronavirus deaths for the first time on Wednesday, taking the toll from the disease in the country to 11,903, data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare showed. The huge increase in the number of deaths came after the states, including Delhi and Maharashtra, took account of pending data, according to several reports.
India’s overall count reached 3,54,065 on Wednesday after 10,974 new cases were reported. India is the world’s fourth-worst affected country by the virus.
Maharashtra reported 2,701 new cases and 81 deaths on Tuesday, taking the state’s total to 1,13,445. The toll reached 5,537. Delhi recorded 1,859 new cases and 93 deaths. The Capital’s tally reached 44,668 and the toll went up to 1,837.
The huge increase in India’s coronavirus toll came the day Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to hold his second videoconference with more than a dozen chief ministers over the escalating health crisis. Modi is scheduled to speak to 15 states with the most number of coronavirus cases. Six chief ministers are slotted to speak at the prime minister’s online meeting, according to NDTV.
On Tuesday, Modi had spoken to the chief ministers of 21 states and Union Territories. He had told the states that the economy was showing signs of improvement because of the government’s “Unlock” measures. “Because of the efforts made in the last few weeks, green shoots have begun to be visible in our economy,” he had said.
Across India, more than 1.86 lakh have recovered from the coronavirus. The Union health ministry has revised India’s recovery rate to 52.8 %.
The Indian Council of Medical Research said it has tested 60,84,256 samples for the coronavirus so far. On Tuesday alone, 1,63,187 samples were tested.