India reports 543 more COVID-19 deaths, new high of 38,902 cases

New Delhi, July 19, 2020

India today reported 543 more deaths due to coronavirus (COVID-19), taking the toll to 26,816, and 38,902 new cases of infection -- the highest in a single day, sending the total zooming to 1,077,618 so far, as the deadly virus continued to spread in several parts of the country.

India is now placed third in the world in terms of the total number of COVID-19 cases, after the United States and Brazil, ahead of Russia which is now in fourth place.

In terms of the number of deaths, India remains at the eighth spot, after the US, Brazil, the UK, Italy, Mexico, France and Spain.

This is the ninth consecutive day that it has reported 500 or more deaths, the 16th consecutive day that it has reported more than 400 deaths and the 37th consecutive day that it has reported more than 300 deaths. It has reported more than 200 deaths each day since the beginning of June.

The highest number of deaths in a single day, 687, was reported on July 17. The previous high in terms of the number of cases in a day -- 34,956 -- was also reported on that date.

This is the fourth consecutive day that the country has reported more than 30,000 new cases of infection in a 24-hour period, the eighth consecutive day that it has recorded more than 28,000 new cases and the 17th consecutive day that it has recorded more than 20,000 new cases.

On the positive side, for the 37th day running, the number of patients who have recovered from the infection is more than the number of active coronavirus cases in the country.

Figures released by the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare this morning showed that the 543 new deaths reported today included 144 in the worst-hit state of Maharashtra, 93 in Karnataka, 88 in Tamil Nadu, 52 in Andhra Pradesh, 27 in West Bengal, 26 in Delhi, 24 in Uttar Pradesh, 17 in Haryana, 16 in Gujarat, nine in Madhya Pradesh, seven each in Bihar, Punjab and Rajasthan, six in Telangana, five in Jammu & Kashmir, three each in Odisha and Puducherry, two each in Assam, Kerala and Tripura, and one each in Chandigarh, Chhattisgarh and Uttarakhand.

Of the total of 26,816 deaths in India so far, Maharashtra accounts for the highest at 11,596, followed by 3,597 in Delhi, 2,403 in Tamil Nadu, 2,122 in Gujarat, 1,240 in Karnataka, 1,108 in Uttar Pradesh, 1,076 in West Bengal, 706 in Madhya Pradesh, 586 in Andhra Pradesh, 553 in Rajasthan, 409 in Telangana, 344 in Haryana, 246 in Punjab, 236 in Jammu & Kashmir, 208 in Bihar, 86 in Odisha, 53 in Assam, 52 in Uttarakhand, 46 in Jharkhand, 40 in Kerala, 28 in Puducherry, 24 in Chhattisgarh, 21 in Goa, 12 in Chandigarh, 11 in Himachal Pradesh, five in Tripura, three in Arunachal Pradesh, two each in Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu and in Meghalaya, and one in Ladakh.

The total of 1,077,618 cases so far includes the 26,816 patients who have died as well as 677,423 patients who have recovered, which means that the number of active cases in the country stood at 373,,379, as of this morning, up 14,687 from yesterday.

The number of patients who have recovered has gone up by 23,672 in the past 24 hours and the recovery rate stood at 62.85%, according to the data.

Of the total of 1,077,618 cases so far, Maharashtra accounts for the highest number at 300,937, followed by 165,714 in Tamil Nadu, 121,582 in Delhi, 59,652 in Karnataka, 47,390 in Gujarat, 47,036 in Uttar Pradesh, 44,609 in Andhra Pradesh, 43,780 in Telangana, 40,209 in West Bengal, 28,500 in Rajasthan, 25,547 in Haryana, 25,136 in Bihar, 21,763 in Madhya Pradesh, 22,918 in Assam, 16,701 in Odisha, 13,198 in Jammu & Kashmir, 11,659 in Kerala, 9,792 in Punjab, 5,342 in Jharkhand, 5,233 in Chhattisgarh, 4,276 in Uttarakhand, 3,484 in Goa, 2,654 in Tripura, 1,894 in Puducherry, 1,891 in Manipur, 1,457 in Himachal Pradesh, 1,159 in Ladakh, 978 in Nagaland, 700 in Chandigarh, 650 in Arunachal Pradesh, 602 in Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu, 418 in Meghalaya, 284 in Mizoram, 275 in Sikkim and 198 in Andaman & Nicobar Islands.

The Ministry said 163 cases were being re-assigned to various states.

NNN