Coronavirus Outbreak: India's COVID-19 case tally nears 82,000-mark; death toll tops 2,600

The total number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 infection in India neared the 82,000-mark on Friday, while the death toll has crossed the 2,600-mark. As of 9:15 AM on this day, the COVID-19 tally in India has reached 81,970, which includes 51,401 active cases; 27,920 cured, discharged or migrated patients, and 2,649 deaths.

According to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, as many as 3,967 new COVID-19 cases and 87 deaths were reported in the country in the last 24 hours, marking a significant spike.

Maharashtra continues to be the epicenter of the coronavirus spread where the number of cases has witnessed an even large spike recently, recording nearly 1,500 cases in a single day, the highest to date. According to the Health Ministry, Maharashtra has the highest number of cases with 27,524 positive cases of infection and 1,019 deaths.

Notably, Mumbai, the financial capital of the country, has become the hotbed of the coronavirus spread in the state where the number of cases has crossed the 16,700-mark and the death toll is over 620. At 9 AM on this day, the COVID-19 tally in Mumbai showed 16,738 cases and 621 deaths.

The Maharashtra government is most likely to extend the lockdown in the state till May 31 even as the Centre is yet to make an announcement on extension of the social distancing measures to stop the spread of coronavirus beyond May 17.

Maharashtra is followed by Tamil Nadu with 9,674 cases, which overtook Gujarat due to a recent massive spike in the number of cases. Gujarat is third on the list with 9,592 cases.

After Gujarat comes Delhi, where the COVID-19 figure stands at 8,470 with 3,045 patients recovered and 115 fatalities. Rajasthan has reported 4,534 cases of which 2,638 have recovered and 125 patients are dead.

Madhya Pradesh has reported 4,426 positive cases so far of which 2,171 patients have recovered and 237 patients have lost their lives due to the virus. In Uttar Pradesh, as many as 3,902 people have confirmed COVID-19, of which 2,072 recovered and 88 people succumbed to it.

King George's Medical University (KGMU) has informed that out of the 708 samples tested yesterday for COVID-19, the results of seven are positive.

In Kerala, which reported the country's first COVID-19 case, 561 people have been detected positive for coronavirus so far.

Meanwhile, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday announced the second tranche of economic stimulus package which focused on migrant workers, street vendors, and small farmers.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had on Tuesday already announced a cumulative package of Rs 20 lakh crore (nearly 10% of GDP) to provide relief to various segments of the economy. The package includes the already announced PM Garib Kalyan Yojana, providing grains and cash to the poor, and Rs 5.6 lakh crore stimulus provided through various monetary policy measures by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).