Maharashtra is still grappling with a shortage of life saving drugs like Remdesivir and Tocilizumab which have been effective in the treatment of COVID-19. The state government says they are addressing the shortage and have been in touch with suppliers to boost supplies.  6,875 people, tested positive for coronavirus in Maharashtra on Thursday, taking the total number of cases to 2,30,599.

Tamil Nadu, with 1,26,581 cases so far, has the second highest number of coronavirus cases after Maharashtra. Capital Chennai accounts for 58.2 per cent of the cases in Tamil Nadu. While Chennai has seen a dip in the number of cases, Madurai has seen a five-fold rise in COVID-19 cases in the last 16 days.

Delhi recorded 2,187 fresh coronavirus cases on Thursday, taking the infection tally to over 1.07 lakh, while the death count from the disease mounted to 3,258. The Union Home Secretary held a meeting through video conference to review the management of COVID-19 situation in the capital.

A lockdown will be imposed in Uttar Pradesh from 10 pm tonight to Monday morning because of the spiralling COVID-19 cases in the state. Only essential services will be allowed during the lockdown, the state government said. This is the first time the state government is going for a blanket lockdown since the centre started lifting the restrictions in May. Uttar Pradesh so far has over 32,362 cases of coronavirus, of which more than 21,000 patients have recovered, 862 patients have died.

The total number of COVID-19 infections in Karnataka on Thursday crossed the 30,000-mark as the state reported 2,228 new cases. Capital Bengaluru saw the highest single-day rise with over 1,300 fresh cases in the last 24 hours.

Telangana’s coronavirus case count has gone up to 30,946 while the death count as risen to 331.

Kerala once again reported the highest single-day spike in the number of COVID-19 cases on Thursday, with  339 new cases. Out of these, 117 are those who have returned  from abroad and 74 from other states. Around 149 patients recovered on the same day. 133 are cases of local transmission and there are seven cases where the source of infection is not known.  The total number of COVID-19 cases in Kerala is 6,534.  “There is an increasing likelihood of multiple clusters being formed in the cities leading to super spreads. We see this happening in Poonthura in our state,” Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said on Thursday.

Eight states, including Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Delhi, Karnataka and Telangana, account for around 90 per cent of the active COVID-19 cases in the country and 80 per cent of the active cases have been reported from 49 districts, the Group of Ministers (GoM) on COVID-19 was informed on Thursday.

The US – the worst-hit country – on Thursday posted 65,551 new coronavirus cases, a record for a 24-hour period, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.

The coronavirus pandemic has killed over 5.54 lakh people globally since it emerged in China late last year. Over 1.22 crore people have been infected with the highly contagious virus.