New Delhi:
India registered its biggest single-day increase in COVID-19 cases, recording 17,296 coronavirus infections in the last 24 hours, to push the overall tally to 4,90,401 lakh as the number of fatalities touched 15,301, government data this morning shows. 407 deaths were reported in the last 24 hours. However, the recovery rate has improved to 58.24 per cent, according to the Union Health Ministry figures, with 2,85,637 patients recovering.

1. Maharashtra has reported the highest number of cases, followed by Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and West Bengal. Maharashtra recorded the highest single-day jump in COVID-19 cases with 4,841 new cases, pushing the state’s case count to 1,47,741. 192 deaths were reported in the last 24 hours. Mumbai reported 1,365 new cases with the state capital’s tally now at 70,990 cases. Even though the death rate of 4.69 per cent is a worry, what comes as a relief is that the recovery rate – number of patients who have successfully fought the illness – in Maharashtra and Mumbai are above 50 per cent.

2. Tamil Nadu – the state with the second highest number of coronavirus cases – saw a single-day high of 3,509 people testing positive over the last 24 hours. Chennai accounts for nearly 2,000 of these fresh cases. The spike comes at a time when Chennai and Madurai are under a total lockdown.

3. Delhi recorded 3,390 fresh coronavirus cases, taking the COVID-19 tally in the city to 73,780. With 64 deaths linked to the highly contagious virus over the past 24 hours, the fatalities in the national capital stood at 2,429, government data said. Meanwhile, the differences between the Delhi government and the centre continues over the protocol for coronavirus patients. The Union Home Ministry, clarified on Thursday that the decision made at the June 21 meeting — that everyone who tests positive for coronavirus must be immediately examined at a quarantine centre – stands.

4. A central team will visit Telangana today as ramped up testing has revealed a positivity rate in the state of over 15 per cent, which is much higher than the national average of 8 per cent. This is the third visit of a central team to Telangana to take stock of the coronavirus crisis. Telangana has recorded 11,364 COVID-19 cases so far. 

5. Neighbouring Andhra Pradesh too witnessed a highest single-day spike with 553 fresh coronavirus cases, pushing the state’s case count to 10,560.

6. Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said on Thursday that people should keep track of their travel history as it would help in contact tracing in the event of them getting infected by coronavirus. Noting that the state disaster management authority has warned of a spike in number of active cases in the state by the end of August, Mr Vijayan said people should cooperate with the government in the COVID-19 mitigation efforts. On Thursday, the state reported 123 COVID-19 cases for the seventh consecutive day, taking the total number of infections in the state to 3,726. The state is aiming to ramp up tests to 15,000 per day starting July, Mr Vijayan said. Currently, around 5,000 samples are tested on a daily basis.

7. Karnataka reported 442 new cases and six coronavirus-linked deaths in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of infections to 10,560. Amid a spike in the nuber of cases in Bengaluru, Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa on Thursday asked people to cooperate by following the measures put in place for the control of COVID-19 if they don’t want another lockdown or sealing in Bengaluru, news agency PTI reported.

8. The Indian Railways on Thursday said it would refund all tickets booked for regular trains between July 1 and August 12 as coronavirus cases in the country surged a month after the government started relaxing some of the restrictions imposed in March. Only special trains announced in May and June will run, the railways said.

9. A total of 77,76,228 samples have been tested in India so far. In the last 24 hours, the highest number of samples – 2,15,446 – were tested, government data showed.

10. India has the fourth-highest number of coronavirus cases among 10 nations worst-hit by coronavirus. The coronavirus pandemic has killed over 4.89 lakh people globally since it emerged in China late last year. Over 96.04 lakh people have been infected with the highly contagious virus.