India reports nearly 9996 fresh cases, 357 deaths in a day, experts say transmission of COVID to intensify till mid-July

NEW DELHI: Five months since the first case was reported in India, 9,996 Covid cases were reported in a day, as deaths due to the Coronavirus crossed the 8,000-mark with 357 succumbing to the pandemic within 24-hours, the data released by Ministry of Health and Family Welfare revealed.

For the second consecutive day, the number of recoveries (1,41,028) remained higher than the active ones (1,37,448) as 2,243 persons were cured and discharged during the day, even as the total COVID toll in the country reached 8,102, more than 70 per cent due to comorbidities.

With a whooping total of 2,86,579 cases, India remained the fifth worst-hit nation as the US topped the chart with 20,00,464 cases. Brazil is second (7,72,416), then Russia (4,93,023) and United Kingdom (2,91,588).

Maharashtra remained the worst hit state in the country with total inching close to 95,000 mark with 94,041 total cases including 3,438 deaths and 44,517 recoveries. It is followed by Tamil Nadu (36,841) and the national capital on the third number.

Delhi has a total of 32,810 cases, including 984 deaths and 12,245 recoveries. Both Mumbai and Delhi witnessed a spike of more than 1,500 cases in last 24 hours.

Madhya Pradesh crossed 10,000 cases, as Telangana reported 4,111 cases, Andhra Pradesh (5,269), Bihar (5,710), Rajasthan (11,600), Uttar Pradesh (11,610), West Bengal (9,328) among other.

The Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Arunachal Pradesh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu and the North Eastern states excluding Manipur and Tripura recorded less than 100 total cases. Of this, Daman and Diu recorded the lowest total with only 2 cases.

The global number of COVID-19 cases has increased to over 7.3 million, while the deaths have surged to more than 416,201, according to Johns Hopkins University. As of Thursday morning, the overall number of cases stood at 73,60,239, the University’s Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) revealed in its latest update.