COVID-19 cases in India cross 14,000-mark; death toll hits 480

The number of confirmed cases of coronavirus in India crossed the 14,000-mark on Saturday. Currently, the tally stands at 14,378 COVID-19 positive cases, which includes 11,906 active cases, 1,992 cured, migrated, or discharged patients and 480 deaths.

According to the Union Ministry of Health & Famly Welfare, 991 new COVID-19 cases and 43 deaths were reported in the past 24 hours.

As the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic outbreak continues to spread like wildfire across India, the state of Maharashtra has emerged as the epicenter of coronavirus spread as it became the first state to cross over 3,000 positive cases of COVID-19 in the country. The case tally in Maharashtra currently stands at 3,320.

While 331 patients have recovered, 201 deaths have been reported. The state has reported 118 new COVID-19 cases and seven deaths today, out of which five deaths were in Mumbai, the financial capital of the country, which has emerged as the hotbed of the coronavirus spread in the state.

Delhi comes next with 1,707 cases, out of which 72 patients have recovered while 42 patients have died.

Tamil Nadu is the third state with 1,323 cases, out of which 283 have recovered and 15 have succumbed to the virus.

Rajasthan has confirmed 1,229 cases, out of which 183 people have recovered while 11 patients are dead.

Madhya Pradesh has reported 1,310 cases, including 69 patients recovered and 69 patients dead. On the other hand, Uttar Pradesh has 805 COVID-19 positive cases.

In Kerala, which reported the country's first COVID-19 case, 396 people have been detected positive for coronavirus.

Notably, this comes amid reports that citizens -- commoners and political leaders alike -- continue to violate social distancing norms and lockdown protocols. While a massive crowd was witnessed at a religious festival in Karnataka's Kalburgi on Thursday, the state on Friday witnessed similar scenes at the wedding ceremony of former Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy's son. Several fruits and vegetable markets across the nation, too, continue to function as normal attracting a large crowd daily.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had on Tuesday announced an extension of nationwide lockdown till May 3 to battle the novel coronavirus. Saturday marks Day 4 of the extended COVID-19 Lockdown 2.0.