New Delhi, Aug 5 Six major states in India have recorded more than one lakh coronavirus cases each since the outbreak of the pandemic, with the country logging over 19 lakh cases and nearly 40,000 deaths so far.
Maharashtra has the highest number of cases, followed by Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh. The last is a recent addition to the states climbing up the grim mark of over a lakh cases.
On the other hand, with the deadly virus spreading rapidly all over the country, there are eight states and Union Territories - Chandigarh, Dadar and Nagar Haveli, Ladakh, Mizoram, Arunanchal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Sikkim, and Andaman and Nicobar where there are less than 1,000 active cases.
In a press briefing, Health Ministry Secretary Rajesh Bhushan had said that 82 per cent of the total cases are limited to 10 states and Union Territories and that 50 districts account for 66 per cent of the total caseload.
Maharashtra, with a population of over 11 crore, not only accounts for the highest number of cases but has also witnessed most deaths. The state has over 4.5 lakh cases and 16,000 deaths, as on Tuesday. It has a recovery rate of over 62 per cent.
The situation in Tamil Nadu is also grim as it has logged 2,73,460 cases and 4,461 deaths till now. The silver lining, however, is that the number of recovered cases in the southern state are four times the active cases. It has a recovery rate of over 76 per cent.
Andhra Pradesh is inching towards the two lakh mark and has logged over 1,600 deaths. It is recording 10,000 cases daily and is among the states with fastest growing number of cases. Neighbouring Karnataka has recorded over 1.4 lakh cases and 2,700 deaths.
Delhi, on the other hand, is now witnessing a remarkable turnaround. It is now recording less than almost 1,000 daily cases and has the highest recovery rate of nearly 90 per cent.
Over 1.40 lakh people have been infected and 4,044 people have died till now. There are merely 10,000 active cases in the capital city, while the number of those recovered is over 12 times more, at 1.26 lakh.
On Tuesday, Uttar Pradesh crossed the mark of one lakh cases, recording 41,222 active cases, 57,271 recovered cases and 1,817 deaths.
The country on Wednesday reported 52,509 cases and 857 deaths. This took the tally to 19,08,255, including 5,86,244 patients who are undergoing treatment for the disease, 12,82,216 who have recovered and 39,795 fatalities.
On the brighter side, India recorded the highest-ever single day recoveries in the last 24 hours. With a sharp increase of 51,706 Covid-19 patients recovering, the recovery rate has reached a new high of 67.19 per cent. The recoveries till now total up to 12,82,215, more than twice the active cases.
( With inputs from IANS )