COVID-19 death toll rises to 2,549; number of cases cross 78,000-mark in country: Health Ministry

The death toll due to COVID-19 rose to 2,549 and the number of cases climbed to 78,003 on Thursday, registering an increase of 134deaths and 3,722 cases in the last 24 hours since Wednesday 8 am, according to the Union Health Ministry.

The number of active COVID-19 cases stood at 49,219 while 26,234 people have recovered and one patient has migrated, it said.

"Thus, around 33.63 per cent patients have recovered so far," a senior health ministry official said.

The total confirmed cases include foreign nationals too.

A total 134 deaths deaths were reported since Wednesday morning, of which 54 were in Maharashtra, 29 in Gujarat, 20 in Delhi, 9 in West Bengal, seven in Madhya Pradesh, four in Rajasthan, three in Tamil Nadu, two each in Telangana and Karnataka and one each in Andhra Pradesh,Bihar, Jammu and Kashmir and Uttar Pradesh.

Of the 2,549 fatalities, Maharashtra tops tally with 975 fatalities, Gujarat comes second with 566 deaths, followed by Madhya Pradesh at 232, West Bengal at 207, Rajasthan at 121, Delhi at 106, Uttar Pradesh at 83,Tamil Nadu at 64 and Andhra Pradesh at 47.

The death toll reached 34 Telangana, 33 in Karnataka and 32 in Punjab. Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir have reported 11 fatalities each due to the respiratory disease while Bihar has registered seven and Kerala has reported four deaths.

Jharkhand, Chandigarh and Odisha have recorded three COVID-19 fatalities each while Himachal Pradesh and Assam have reported two deaths each.

Meghalaya, Uttarakhand and Puducherry have reported one fatality each, according to the ministry data.

According to the ministry's website, more than 70 per cent of the deaths are due to comorbidities.

According to the health ministry data updated in the morning, the highest number of confirmed cases in the country is from Maharashtra at 25,922 followed by Gujarat at 9,267, Tamil Nadu at 9,227, Delhi at 7,998, Rajasthan at 4,328, Madhya Pradesh at 4,173 and Uttar Pradesh at 3,729.

The number of COVID-19 cases has gone up to 2,290 in West Bengal, 2,137 in Andhra Pradesh and 1,924 in Punjab.

It has risen to 1,367 in Telangana, 971 in Jammu and Kashmir, 959 in Karnataka, 940 in Bihar and 793 in Haryana.

Kerala has reported 534 coronavirus cases so far, while Odisha has 538 cases. A total of 187 people have been infected with the virus in Chandigarh and 173 in Jharkhand.

Tripura has reported 155 cases, Assam has 80 cases, Uttarakhand has 72, Himachal Pradesh has 66 cases, Chhattisgarh has 59 and Ladakh has registered 43 cases so far.

Thirty-three COVID-19 cases have been reported from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

Meghalaya and Puducherry have registered 13 cases each while Goa has seven COVID-19 cases.

Manipur has two cases. Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh and Dadar and Nagar Haveli have reported a case each till how.

"Our figures are being reconciled with the ICMR," the ministry said on its website.

State-wise distribution is subject to further verification and reconciliation, it said.