Coronavirus Outbreak: With 28,701 cases in a day, India's COVID-19 tally tops 8.78 lakh; death toll 23,174

As the coronavirus cases in India continue to spread rapidly, India is now just behind the United States and Brazil in terms of the total confirmed cases as it already overtook Russia to take the third spot in the list of worst-hit nations in the world affected by the coronavirus disease (COVID-19). It is, therefore, also the biggest epicenter of the coronavirus disease pandemic in Asia.

With over 28,800 new cases reported in the last 24 hours, India's COVID-19 count on Monday crossed the 8.78 lakh-mark, while the death toll has crossed the 23,000-mark as well.

At 9:30 AM on this day, the COVID-19 tally in the country has reached 8,78,254 cases, which include 3,01,609 active cases; 5,53,471 cured, discharged, or migrated patients, and 23,174 deaths.

According to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, as many as 28,701 new COVID-19 cases and 500 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. According to the Health Ministry, Maharashtra has the highest number of cases with 2,54,427 positive cases of COVID-19 infection and 10,289 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 is nearing the 93,000-mark and the death toll has topped the 5,200-mark as well. At 9:30 AM on this day, the COVID-19 tally in Mumbai showed 92,988 cases and 5,288 deaths.

One of the real challenges in Mumbai is controlling the disease contamination in Asia's biggest slum -- Dharavi, which is an extremely densely-populated region.

Maharashtra is followed by Tamil Nadu with 1,38,470 cases. The state crossed Delhi to take up second place in the list due to a recent massive surge in the number of cases.

The national capital is third on the list with 1,12,494 cases.

After Delhi comes Gujarat, where the COVID-19 figure stands at 41,906 cases with 29,168 patients recovered, and 2,046 fatalities. Karnataka has reported 38,843 cases of which 15,411 have recovered and 686 patients are dead.

Uttar Pradesh has reported 36,476 positive cases so far of which 23,334 patients have recovered and 934 patients have lost their lives due to the virus. In Telangana, as many as 34,671 people have confirmed COVID-19, of which 22,482 recovered and 356 people succumbed to it.

In Kerala, which reported the country's first COVID-19 case, 7,874 people have been detected positive for coronavirus so far.

The Health Ministry said that the Union Government has emphasized on increasing testing, prompt contact tracing, and timely clinical management of the COVID19 cases.

Meanwhile, India is set to begin the human clinical trials for vaccines against the SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes the dreaded coronavirus disease (COVID-19). For the purpose of the trials, the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Patna has selected 18 volunteers on whom the vaccine trails will be conducted.

The central government still keeps denying that community transmission is taking place in India.