Number of confirmed cases in India close to 53,000, death toll hits 1,783

India registered 3,561 cases and 89 deaths in a single day taking the total confirmed cases to almost 53,000 as on Thursday, according to the health ministry data.
 

States such as Maharashtra, Gujarat,  Madhya Pradesh, Delhi and West Bengal make up for most of the cases reported in the country. As of Thursday, India had conducted a total of 1,357,413 tests, Indian Council of Medical Research data said.
 

According to the COV-IND-19 Study Group, in order to get to 1 per cent of the population tested, India needs to be at 13.5 million tests. The study released by the group said that while India seems to have done relatively well in controlling the number of confirmed cases compared to other countries in the early phase of the pandemic, there is a critical missing or unknown component in this assessment:

“The number of truly affected cases, which depends on the extent of testing, the accuracy of the test results and, in particular, the frequency and scale of testing of asymptomatic cases who may have been exposed,” the study said.
 

In the last two days, the death toll due to Covid-19 has been among the highest in Gujarat with 77 deaths since Tuesday. The state was second in terms of fatalities with 396 deaths so far.
 

In Maharashtra, with the highest number of confirmed cases in the country at  16,758, the toll went up up by 68 in the last two days to 651 deaths as on Thursday.
 

This is followed by Gujarat at 6,625, Delhi at 5,532, Tamil Nadu at 4,829, Rajasthan at 3,317, Madhya Pradesh at 3,138 and Uttar Pradesh at 2,998.
 

Of the total cases, 15,266 have been cured or discharged taking the recovery rate to 28 per cent.
 

States where no fatalities have been reported so far include Chattisgarh, Goa, Ladakh, Manipur, Puducherry and Tripura among others. Andaman and Nicobar Islands, where there are a total of 33 confirmed cases, no deaths have been reported so far.
 

Delhi, too, has reined in its fatality rate in the last few days with only one death reported in the last two days even though the total number cases has risen to  more than 5,000.
 

The death toll due to Covid-19 climbed to 35 in Tamil Nadu, while Telangana and Karnataka reported 29 fatalities each due to the disease.