Coronavirus crisis: India reports nearly 25,000 new cases in a day; death toll at 19,268

India continues to report high numbers of coronavirus cases. According to the  Ministry of Health and Family Welfare India reported 24,850 new COVID-19 cases and 613 deaths in the past one day. Total cases in India have crossed 6.7 lakh with 2,44,814 active cases, 4,09,083 discharges and 19,268 deaths.

According to the ministry on Saturday, India's recovery rate has improved to 60.81 per cent. The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) stated that so far India has conducted 97,89,066 COVID tests, with 2,48,934 tests conducted on July 4 alone.

When it comes to the states, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu both have crossed the 1-lakh mark. Maharashtra continues to be the worst-affected with 2,00,064 cases. It is the first state to cross the 2-lakh mark. The state has reported 83,311 active cases and 8,671 deaths. Tamil Nadu has reported 1,07,001 cases with 44,959 active cases, 60,592 discharges and 1,450 deaths.

Delhi has reported 97,200 cases, including 25,940 active cases, 68,256 discharges and 3,004 deaths. Even as Delhi is moving towards the 1-lakh mark, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said that the national capital is witnessing a decrease in the number of hospitalisations. He added that people are getting cured at home as well and that 9,900 beds are vacant across Delhi hospitals. Deputy CM Manish Sisodia also said that the recovery rate in the national capital has improved to 70 per cent.

There are currently 14 states with more than 10,000 cases -- Andhra Pradesh (17,699), Assam (10,668), Bihar (11,700), Delhi (97,200), Gujarat (35,312), Haryana (16,548), Karnataka (21,549), Madhya Pradesh (14,604), Maharashtra (2,00,064), Rajasthan (19,532), Tamil Nadu (1,07,001), Telangana (22,312), Uttar Pradesh (26,554), and West Bengal (21,231).

Meanwhile, the World Health Organisation (WHO) appreciated India's efforts in tackling the coronavirus pandemic. "The Government of India took extremely serious steps from the beginning and put in place certain measures in January itself based on the WHO recommendations. Today, India is doing more than 200 thousand tests a day. Now, India is developing testing kits. It is a big achievement for India that in the last couple of months as India has become self-sufficient in testing kits and being able to scale up. However, I would like to say that there should be a focus on data. By that, I mean that we need to have a systematic approach to looking at the data," said Dr Swaminathan, Chief Scientist at WHO.

Also read: Coronavirus in Delhi: Kejriwal says number of patients decreasing in hospitals, 9,900 beds free

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