India’s Coronavirus Death Toll Rises to 1,223 as Positive Cases Near 38,000-mark

New Delhi: The death toll due to COVID-19 rose to 1,223 and the number of cases climbed to 37,776 in the country on Saturday, registering an increase of 71 deaths and a record jump of 2,411 cases in 24 hours, said the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

The number of active cases stood at 26,565, while 10,017 people have recovered and one has migrated.

"Thus, around 26.52% patients have recovered so far," a senior ministry official said.

A total of 71 deaths were reported since Friday evening -- 26 from Maharashtra, 22 from Gujarat, eight from Madhya Pradesh, four from Rajasthan, three from Karnataka, two each from Delhi and Uttar Pradesh, and one each from Bihar, Haryana, Punjab and Tamil Nadu.

Of the 1,223 deaths, Maharashtra accounts for 485 fatalities, followed by Gujarat (236), MP (145), Rajasthan (62), Delhi (61), UP (43) and West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh at 33 each.

The death toll reached 28 in Tamil Nadu, 26 in Telangana, while Karantaka has reported 25 fatalities.

Punjab has registered 20 deaths, Jammu and Kashmir eight, Kerala and Haryana have reported four deaths each, and Jharkhand and Bihar three each.

Meghalaya, Himachal Pradesh, Odisha and Assam have reported a fatality each, according to the ministry data.

However, a PTI tally of the figures reported by various states on Saturday evening showed 37,707 cases and 1,232 deaths.

There has been a lag in the ministry figures compared to the number of deaths announced by different states, which officials attribute to procedural delays in assigning the cases to individual states.

According to the ministry data updated in the evening, the highest number of confirmed cases is from Maharashtra at 11,506, followed by Gujarat (4,721), Delhi (3,738), MP (2,719), Rajasthan (2,666), Tamil Nadu (2,526) and UP (2,455).

The number of cases has gone up to 1,525 in Andhra Pradesh and 1,057 in Telangana. It has risen to 795 in West Bengal, 772 in Punjab, 639 in Jammu and Kashmir, 598 in Karnataka, 498 in Kerala and 471 in Bihar.

Haryana has reported 360 cases, while Odisha has 154. A total of 111 people have been infected in Jharkhand and 88 in Chandigarh.

Uttarakhand has reported 58 cases, Assam and Chhattisgarh 43 each, while Himachal Pradesh has registered 40 cases.

Thirty-three cases have been reported from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, while Ladakh has recorded 22.

Meghalaya has reported 12 cases, Puducherry eight while Goa has seven COVID-19 cases. Manipur and Tripura have two cases each, while Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh have reported a case each.