India logs 879 COVID-19 deaths, 161,736 cases of infection in 24 hours

New Delhi, April 13, 2021

India today logged 879 deaths due to the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and 161,736 cases of infection in the last 24 hours, both numbers being lower than those reported yesterday.

The country had yesterday reported 168,912 fresh cases of infection -- the highest since the outbreak of the pandemic in the country in late January last year -- and 904 deaths -- the highest since October 18, 2020.

With Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Chhattisgarh and some other States reporting a sudden surge in the number of cases in recent days, the country has logged more than a lakh new cases of infection in 24 hours for the eighth time in nine days today.

The highest number of deaths due to COVID-19 in a single day in the country -- 1,290 -- was reported on September 16 last year.

Of the 161,736 new cases of infection reported in the country today, Maharashtra -- the worst-hit State -- accounted for 51,751 cases, much lower than the peak of 63,294 registered yesterday.

Similarly, the number of deaths in the state came down to 258 today from 349 yesterday.

Mumbai, the capital of Maharashtra and the financial hub of the country, reported 6,893 new cases of infection and 43 deaths in the last 24 hours.

With the latest numbers put out this morning by the Union Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, the death toll in the country so far has risen to 171,058 while the total number of cases of infection, since the first case was registered in late January last year, has climbed to 13,689,453.

The number of those who have recovered from COVID-19 rose to 12,253,697 as of this morning, up 97,168 from yesterday. The recovery rate has dropped to 89.51% from 89.86% yesterday.

The number of active cases went up by 63,689 in the last 24 hours to 1,264,698 --- the highest since the pandemic began in India.

The active caseload has been rising after February 12 this year, when it had touched its lowest mark of 135,926 in recent months.

The world has reported a total of 136.500 million cases of COVID-19 so far while the global death toll has climbed past 2.944 million as of this morning, according to data compiled by the Johns Hopkins University in the United States, which is tracking the pandemic.

India ranks second in the world in terms of the total number of infections so far, behind the United States (31.267 million) and ahead of Brazil (13.517million).

In terms of the number of deaths, the country now ranks fourth after the US (562,521), Brazil (354,617) and Mexico (209,702).

NNN