NEW DELHI: India’s Covid-19 caseload went past the 8 lakh mark, just four days after having crossed 7 lakh, while the death toll topped 22,000 on Friday. Amid a major surge in the pandemic, fresh infections reported during the day crossed 27,000 for the first time, the third record high in daily numbers in the past three days.
Friday’s death toll crossed 500 for the first time in six days, settling at 520. This was the second highest single-day count of deaths after 608 on July 4, discounting the 2,003 deaths reported on June 16 in a data reconciliation exercise.With 27,449 cases recorded on Friday, total Covid-19 infections in India rose to 8,21,722, as per data from state governments.
Over 2.36 lakh cases have been reported in the 10 days of July, as compared to 4 lakh infections reported in the whole of June. Likewise, these 10 days have seen 4,733 deaths already while June had recorded around 12,000 in all.

On Friday, Maharashtra hit another peak in fresh cases, reported as many as 7,862 new infections, while adding 226 to the state’s death toll. Besides, at least eight other states also reported their highest single-day rise in cases. These were Karnataka, where 2,313 fresh infections were detected, Andhra Pradesh (1,608), Uttar Pradesh (1,347), Bengal (1,198), Gujarat (875), Odisha (755), Kerala (416) and Manipur (147).
In an indication of the worsening Covid-19 situation in Kerala, contact cases have started exceeding cases among returnees from abroad and other states in the daily tally. The state on Friday witnessed amassive surge of 416 cases.