NEW DELHI: The total number of confirmed coronavirus COVID-19 cases in the country jumped to 23,077, while the death toll spiked to 718 on Friday (April 24, 2020), according to the latest figures released by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
India recorded its sharpest spike in cases with 1,684 cases and 37 deaths in 24 hours. Meanwhile, there are 4,748 recoveries in the country so far. The confirmed coronavirus cases include 17,610 active cases, 4,748 cured/discharged, 1 migrated, and 718 deaths, according to the government figures.
According to the morning update by the Health Ministry, Maharashtra continues to be the worst-hit state with 6,430 cases of which 840 patients have recovered and 283 patients have died.
Delhi`s count stands at 2,376 of which 808 patients have recovered, while 50 patients have lost their lives. Gujarat, being third on the list with respect to positive COVID-19 cases, has 2,624 cases with 258 recovered and 112 dead.
Tamil Nadu`s COVID-19 figure stands at 1,683 with 752 patients recovered and 20 fatalities. Rajasthan has reported 1,964 cases of which 230 has recovered and 27 patients are dead. Madhya Pradesh has reported 1,699 positive cases so far of which 203 patients have recovered and 83 patients have lost their lives due to the virus.
In Uttar Pradesh, as many as 1,510 people have confirmed COVID-19, of which 206 recovered and 24 people succumbed to it. In Kerala, which reported the country`s first COVID-19 case, 447 people have been detected positive for coronavirus.
While some states have relaxed the lockdown rules, others have extended the lockdown beyond May 5. With the virus taking a toll on the economy, the Union government is weighing options for a stimulus to protect wages of workers employed in micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) as the sector fights a survival battle.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will meet the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday to discuss the financial package that was announced earlier.
Meanwhile, the United States which is the worst-hit country in the world saw a record number of deaths in 24 hours. Around 3,100 people have succumbed to novel coronavirus in the US in 24 hours, while the death toll in the country is past 50,000-mark.
The global death toll has crossed 1,90,000.