Over 1,700 Covid-19 cases in 24 hours take India’s tally to 33,050

Maharashtra has the highest number of cases, and is inching towards the 10,000-mark.

The number of Covid-19 cases increased by 1,718 in the last 24 hours, pushing the overall tally up to 33,050, according to the Union Health Ministry data. The number of deaths went up to 1,074 after 66 more people died of the disease in the last 24 hours, the health ministry’s dashboard showed at 8 am on Thursday.

Medical professionals of Delhi’s LNJP Hospital seen outside a special coronavirus screening centre, in New Delhi on Wednesday.(Sonu Mehta/HT Photo)

The number of active Covid-19 cases stood at 23,651, while 8,324 people have recovered and one patient has migrated. The total number of cases include 111 foreign nationals, the ministry said.

Maharashtra has the highest number of cases, and is inching towards the 10,000-mark.

Out of the 66 deaths reported since Wednesday evening, 32 were from Maharashtra, 16 from Gujarat, 10 from Madhya Pradesh, three from Uttar Pradesh, two each from Tamil Nadu and Delhi, and one from Karnataka.

Maharashtra now tops the tally with 432 fatalities, followed by Gujarat at 197, Madhya Pradesh at 129, Delhi at 56, Rajasthan at 51, Uttar Pradesh at 39 and Andhra Pradesh at 31.

The toll reached 27 in Tamil Nadu, 26 in Telengana, 22 in West Bengal while Karantaka has reported 21 deaths and Punjab 19.

According to the ministry data updated in the morning, the highest number of confirmed cases in the country are from Maharashtra with 9,915 infections, followed by Gujarat with 4,082, Delhi with 3,439, Madhya Pradesh with 2,561.

Meanwhile, the Union government on Wednesday issued guidelines to enable the return of migrants to their home states by buses - a move welcomed by many states.

In a tweet late on Wednesday night, the ministry of home affairs (MHA) said, “New guidelines to fight #COVID19 will come into effect from 4th May, which shall give considerable relaxations to many districts. Details regarding this shall be communicated in the days to come.”

A person familiar with the development said that the ministry had a comprehensive meeting on the lockdown, scheduled to end on May 3, and assessed that there had been “tremendous gains” so far.