48,661 new cases, 704 deaths 1 day; big rise in 4 states

Bengal, Bihar, UP new Covid hotspots

The coronavirus situation is turning alarming across India, with close to 50,000 fresh cases a day, with the total Covid-19 count nearing 14 lakhs. On Sunday morning, the health ministry said there were 48,661 fresh cases and 704 deaths in the past 24 hours, taking India’s overall count to 13,85,522, and 32,063 deaths. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, however, said India was in a better position compared to other nations.

Sikkim on Sunday reported its first coronavirus death, prompting the state to extend its lockdown till August 1. Sikkim had detected 499 cases, of which 22 were fresh ones, till Sunday.

In the last 24 hours, a large number of fresh cases were detected in Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, while Odisha, Bihar, West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh are the new emerging hotspots, with many cases being detected daily. The situation in Delhi is now stabilising as the number of fresh cases continue to decline, while fatalities too are down significantly.

The health ministry said India also registered the highest recoveries in a single day as over 36,000 patients were discharged. Officials said that the recoveries outnumbered active Covid-19 cases by over four lakhs and the recovery rate had touched a new high of nearly 63.92 per cent. This has taken the total number of recovered cases to 8,85,576.

The health ministry also said a number of over 4,40,000 tests were done in a single day. For the first time, government labs set a new record of testing 3,62,153 samples. Private labs too scaled a new high of 79,878 samples tested in a single day.