Daily deaths hit 4K; India 3rd to cross grim landmark

NEW DELHI: India’s daily toll due to Covid-19 crossed the 4,000mark for the first time ever, with the country adding a record 4,192 deaths on Friday as a second wave of infections continued to wreak havoc and overburdening health systems in almost every part of the nation.

India is only the third country after the United States and Brazil to traverse this grim figure.

After Friday’s death toll, the total number of people who lost their lives to the disease in the country since the start of the pandemic touched 238,283. A total of 401,358 new infections were reported on Friday, taking the cumulative number of confirmed cases in India to 21,886,256, according to HT’s dashboard. The highest ever single-day death toll was reported in the US on January 12, when it reported 4,490 fatalities.

While some of the areas that were among the first to be hit by the second wave -- such as Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana and Delhi -- appear to be seeing a stabilisation in new Covid-19 cases, deaths continue to remain high. Of Friday’s 4,192 deaths, Maharashtra recorded 898, the highest among all states and Union territories, followed by Karnataka (592), Uttar Pradesh (372), Delhi (341), and Chhattisgarh (208). The 592 deaths in Karnataka were an 80% increase from Thursday’s toll of 328, the highest jump among all major states.