India sees highest single-day spike with 14,516 COVID-19 cases, tally reaches 3.95 lakh

New Delhi [India], June 20 (ANI): India on Saturday registered yet another record single-day spike of 14,516 COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, with the total count reaching 3,95,048.
The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) said that 1,89,869 coronavirus tests were conducted by various laboratories across the country in the last 24 hours. This is the highest number of tests conducted by the laboratories in a single day.
So far, 66,16,496 tests have been conducted.
The death toll has gone up to 12,948 in the country with 375 people succumbing to the infection.
According to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the total number of cases include 1,68,269 active cases, 2,13,831 cured/discharged/migrated and 12,948 deaths.
With 1,24,331 cases, Maharashtra continues to be the worst-affected state in the country with 55,665 active cases while 62,773 patients have been cured and discharged in the state so far. The toll due to COVID-19 stands at 5,893 in the state.
The number of confirmed cases in Tamil Nadu also crossed the 50,000 mark on Saturday, reaching 54,449 while the national capital is the third-worst affected by the infection in the country with the count reaching 53,116.
Earlier in the day, Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal rolled back his order on mandatory five-day institutional quarantine period for COVID-19 positive patients, stating that only those patients need to undergo institutional quarantine who do not require hospitalisation and do not have adequate facilities for home isolation.
Satyendar Jain, who was in charge of the health department of Delhi and tested positive for COVID-19, was administered plasma therapy in Max Hospital in Saket after his condition worsened on Friday.
On the other hand, domestic pharmaceuticals Glenmark today informed that their antiviral drug -- Favipiravir -- has shown clinical improvement of up to 88 per cent in mild to moderate COVID-19 cases, including those with co-morbidities.
However, it said that pregnant and lactating mothers were not included in the clinical trial.
Uttar Pradesh Principal Health Secretary Amit Mohan Prasad said that 592 new COVID-19 cases have been reported in the state in the last 24 hours. The number of active cases in the state is currently at 6,237.
As many as 158 more people were tested positive for coronavirus in Rajasthan till 10:30 am on Saturday, taking the state's total tally to 14,314, according to the state health department.
The COVID-19 infection has claimed yet another life of a policeman in Mumbai, taking the total number of police personnel dying due to the disease across the state to 46, Mumbai Police said.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami said that 54 per cent of the COVID-19 patients have recovered in the state so far.
In view of surging cases of COVID-19 in Uttarakhand, a 48-hour lockdown has been imposed in Dehradun, said Shweta Chaubey, Superintendent of Police, Dehradun city.
Meanwhile, 748 Indian nationals stranded in Pakistan due to coronavirus lockdown are set to return to their country in three batches after going through necessary health protocols.
Under the Vande Bharat Mission, the central government's ambitious initiative to repatriate overseas Indians stranded abroad due to coronavirus-travel restrictions, an Air India flight under Vande Bharat Mission took off from Melbourne today with 246 passengers for Delhi and Mumbai.
Another Air India flight took off from Nur-Sultan in Kazakhstan with 168 stranded Indians for New Delhi.
The Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) informed that 588 flights have been operated under Lifeline Udan by Air India, Alliance Air, Indian Air Force (IAF) and private carriers to transport essential medical supplies amid the coronavirus outbreak in the country. (ANI)