New Delhi: India recorded 3,970 new coronavirus patients and 103 deaths linked to COVID-19 in the last 24 hours, bringing the total to 85,940 cases, Union Health Ministry said this morning, a day after the country surpassed the virus tally of China where the pandemic originated in December. India now is ranked 11th in the world in terms of coronavirus cases. The country’s recovery rate – the number of patients who have successfully fought off the illness – stood at 35.08 per cent this morning. More than 30,000 COVID-19 patients have recovered so far. The fatality rate is significantly better than China’s at 3.2 per cent compared to 5.5 per cent.
Here are top 10 developments on coronavirus cases in India:
- US President Donald Trump on Saturday tweeted that his country would donate ventilators to India in the fight against the pandemic. “I am proud to announce that the United States will donate ventilators to our friends in India. We stand with India and Narendra Modi during this pandemic. We’re also cooperating on vaccine development. Together we will beat the invisible enemy! (sic),” he wrote.
- India has recorded a huge jump in the number of cases after April 14. While the first 10,000 coronavirus patients were recorded in a span of 75 days between January 30 and April 14, the cases doubled to 20,000 in the next eight days. The number of coronavirus cases surged from 20,000 on April 23 to 70,000 on May 12.
- Nearly 68 per cent of the total COVID-19 cases have been recorded from 18 cities in the country. Mumbai, Delhi, Ahmedabad, Pune and Chennai alone account for 50 per cent of the total cases in India.
- In Maharashtra – the worst-hit state due to the pandemic – over 1,000 policemen have coronavirus, 10 have died. Mumbai is the worst-hit city in the state. “Mumbai Police regrets to inform about the unfortunate demise of ASID Madhukar Mane, 57. Being in the high-risk age-group, Shri Mane was on leave for the past 15 days. This is the 10th Death in Maharashtra police force,” the city police tweeted.
- Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday announced Rs 1 lakh croreto fund agriculture infrastructure projects in her third set of announcements on the mega economic stimulus to help various sectors battered by the coronavirus crisis. These are a part of the Rs 20 lakh crore stimulus package announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi this week for the coronavirus-hit economy.
- A number of states, including Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Karnataka, Gujarat and national capital Delhi, have suggested reopening large swathes of the economy ahead of the scheduled end to third phase of coronavirus lockdown on Sunday.
- Delhi’s coronavirus tally rose to 8,895 cases on Friday after a single-day spike of 425. No coronavirus patient died on Thursday, but the number of deaths jumped from 115 to 123 as the government took into account cases that were not reported before.
- The World Bank on Friday approved a USD 1 billion loan to support India’s efforts for providing social assistance to the poor and vulnerable households, severely impacted by the pandemic.
- Worldwide, more than 44 lakh people have been affected by the novel coronavirus with the US reporting nearly a third of the cases – by far the highest. Over 3 lakh people have died from the deadly respiratory disease.
- In China, less than 100 people are now undergoing treatment for COVID-19, even though some new cases have emerged in the eastern city of Wuhan.
