India’s 61 per cent of daily new cases contributed by 6 states

The Union health ministry said on Thursday 60.72 per cent of the 44,489 fresh cases of the coronavirus disease reported in the last 24 hours were contributed by six states and Union territories (UTs) with Kerala being the highest contributor. Maharashtra, Delhi, West Bengal, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh followed the southern state, according to central data. Kerala added nearly 6,500 Covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours, while Maharashtra and Delhi added 6,159 and 5,246 new cases respectively, the ministry added.

Delhi led the tally in terms of cases per million population as it logged 29,169 infections, followed by Kerala at 16,201, Maharashtra at 14,584 and Haryana at 7,959. The figures from these four states were higher than the national average of 6,715. Out of the 524 deaths logged in the last 24 hours, 60.50 per cent of these came from Delhi, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh, the ministry said. Delhi reported the maximum deaths at 99, followed by Maharashtra with 65 and West Bengal 51 fatalities. Delhi Wednesday saw its daily toll falling below the 100-mark for the first time after five days. Since the past 13 days, deaths due to the infection remained above 100 at least seven times in Delhi. The total deaths are now over 8,700, the state’s health department bulletin showed.

The case fatality rates in Punjab, Delhi, West Bengal and Maharashtra were also greater than the national average of 1.46 per cent, the health ministry said. Meanwhile, recoveries from Covid-19 have climbed to 8,679,138 with 36,367 people recovering in the last 24 hours, the ministry highlighted adding that 15 states and UTs have a recovery rate more than the national average of 93.66 per cent.