India recorded the biggest single-day spike of 26,506 coronavirus cases on Thursday, pushing the total count to 7,93,802. With 475 new deaths, the fatality count has gone up to 21,604. Maharashtra has reported the highest number of cases, followed by Tamil Nadu, Delhi, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka and Telangana. 4,95,513 patients across the country have recovered so far, taking the recovery rate to 62.42 per cent. India is the country with the third-highest coronavirus caseload in the world after the United States and Brazil.
Maharashtra is still grappling with a shortage of life saving drugs like Remdesivir and Tocilizumab which have been effective in the treatment of COVID-19. The state government says they are addressing the shortage and have been in touch with suppliers to boost supplies. 6,875 people, tested positive for coronavirus in Maharashtra on Thursday, taking the total number of cases to 2,30,599.
Tamil Nadu, with 1,26,581 cases so far, has the second highest number of coronavirus cases after Tamil Nadu. Capital Chennai accounts for 58.2 per cent of the cases in Tamil Nadu. While Chennai has seen a dip in the number of cases, Madurai has seen a five-fold rise in COVID-19 cases in the last 16 days.
A lockdown will be imposed in Uttar Pradesh from 10 pm tonight to Monday morning because of the spiralling COVID-19 cases in the state. Only essential services will be allowed during the lockdown, the state government said. This is the first time the state government is going for a blanket lockdown since the centre started lifting the restrictions in May. Uttar Pradesh so far has over 32,362 cases of coronavirus, of which more than 21,000 patients have recovered, 862 patients have died.
