7,964 new coronavirus cases, 265 deaths in single day: India’s biggest spike in COVID-19 count

New Delhi: India witnessed the biggest spike in coronavirus cases as the states had reported nearly 8,000 fresh COVID-19 cases in last 24 hours. India’s COVID-19 count surged past 1.73 lakh. The number of deaths due to COVID-19 infection also witnessed the highest rise on Friday. The country registered 265 deaths in last 24 hours. Maharashtra continued to record the highest number of new COVID-19 cases but several other states also saw high number of cases. While Delhi recorded over 1,000 cases for the second consecutive day, Tamil Nadu added over 800 fresh cases on Friday.

Maharashtra’s coronavirus count crossed the grim milestone of 60,000-mark on Friday. It was the only state in India to record over 50,000 cases. The death toll in state rose to 2,098, highest in India. Mumbai alone confirmed over 36,000 coronavirus cases. Tamil Nadu was the second state to record 20,000 coronavirus patients, after Maharashtra. As many as 874 people tested positive for novel coronavirus in last 24 hours. The total number of coronavirus cases in the state zoomed to 20,246.

With over 2,000 coronavirus patients in last days, the coronavirus count in Delhi jumped to 15,934. The death toll also inched towards 400 in the national capital. Gujarat confirmed the fourth highest number of coronavirus cases in the country. With the 372 new cases in last 24 hours, the COVID-19 tally in the state rose to 15,934. The number of fatalities in the state increase to 980.

There were 13 cities in the country which accounted for 70% of the total coronavirus cases. The Centre made of a list of these 13 cities and stressed on the more stringent implementation of containment strategy in these areas. These 13 cities were Mumbai, Chennai, Delhi, Ahmedabad, Thane, Pune, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Howrah, Indore, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Chengalpattu and Thiruvallur. Cabinet secretary Rajiv Gauba and state chief secretaries took stock of the situation in these cities ahead of the end of the lockdown 4.0.

In an open letter addressed to the nation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi mentioned India’s battle against COVID-19 pandemic and praised everyone for their efforts and support.