COVID-19 cases in Maharashtra have crossed the grim milestone of 37,000-mark. The state confirmed 2,078 coronavirus cases for the third consecutive day. Mumbai alone has accounted for overall 23,000 coronavirus cases. The state’s COVID-19 count is nearly equal to the next three states put together. The fatalities due to coronavirus infection also breached 1,300 in Maharashtra. Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray urged people not to step out of their homes in red zones like Mumbai, Pune and surrounding areas.
After Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu has reported the highest number of coronavirus patients. The virus has infected 12,448 people in the state. Chennai’s Koyambedu market has emerged as the hotspot in the state. Koyambedu Wholesale Market Complex is one of Asia’s largest perishable goods market complex located at Koyambedu, Chennai. Other than Chennai, at least six districts have witnessed a spillover of cases from this wholesale hub. Over 2,000 COVID-19 cases have been reported related to Koyambedu market.
The coronavirus infection continues to surge in Gujarat also. The state recorded 399 fresh COVID-19 cases in last 24 hours, bringing the coronavirus tally to 12,140. Gujarat has the third highest number of coronavirus patients after Maharashtra and Tamilnadu.
Uttar Pradesh, country’s most populous state, is seeing increasing cases of coronavirus among migrant workers who have just returned home. Fifty migrants who have returned home were found infected with coronavirus in UP’s Basti district alone. The state has 4,926 COVID-19 cases.
Assam too saw a spike in cases with more people stranded in other states returning home. Assam currently has a total of 142 cases of which 25 were reported in the last 24 hours.
Telangana has stopped issuing passes to people wanting to return home from Maharashtra, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. The state government is of the view that migrants are emerging as a new category testing positive for corona virus. The state has reported 1,634 cases so far.
Adding some cheer amid the gloom, the number of recoveries across India have been going up steadily. Nearly 40% of the total coronavirus patients have been cured so far. Kerala saw one of the best recovery rate in India. Out of 642 patients, 497 people have been discharged from the hospital.
India has about 7.1 COVID-19 positive cases per lakh population as compared to the total confirmed cases in the world, which is approximately 60 cases per lakh population, said the health ministry. “Aggressive and early measures have shown encouraging results,” health ministry said in a statement.