Coronavirus Outbreak: 1.51 lakh COVID-19 cases in India, over 4,300 deaths; recovery rate 42.45%

As many as 6,387 new COVID-19 cases and 170 deaths were reported in the country in the last 24 hours

The total number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 infection in India crossed the 1.51 lakh-mark on Wednesday, while the death toll has topped the 4,300-mark as well. At 9:30 AM on this day, the COVID-19 tally in the country has reached 1,51,767 cases, which includes 83,004 active cases; 64,426 cured, discharged, or migrated patients, and 4,337 deaths.

According to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, as many as 6,387 new COVID-19 cases and 170 deaths were reported in the country in the last 24 hours, marking a significant spike. However, the spike in India's COVID-19 tally today is still less than yesterday's, when the country witnessed a spike of about 6,535 cases. Notably, the country has witnessed significant and consecutive highest jumps in the country's COVID-19 tally for the major part of the last week.

Yesterday, the COVID-19 tally in India had crossed the 1.45 lakh-mark, while the death toll had already topped the 4,100-mark. However, the recovery rate this morning stands at 42.45%, the Health Ministry informed.

Maharashtra continues to be the epicenter of the coronavirus spread where the number of cases has witnessed an even large spike recently. According to the Health Ministry, Maharashtra has the highest number of cases with 54,758 positive cases of infection and 1,792 deaths.

Notably, Mumbai, the financial capital of the country, has become the hotbed of the coronavirus spread in the state where the number of cases is nearing the 33,000-mark and the death toll has crossed the 1,000-mark as well. At 9:30 AM on this day, the COVID-19 tally in Mumbai showed 32,974 cases and 1,065 deaths. The city had reported as many as 1,430 cases on Monday alone.

One of the real challenges in Mumbai is controlling the disease contamination in Asia's biggest slum -- Dharavi, which is an extremely densely-populated region.

Maharashtra is followed by Tamil Nadu with 17,728 cases, which overtook Gujarat due to a recent massive spike in the number of cases. Gujarat is third on the list with 14,829 cases.

After Gujarat comes Delhi, where the COVID-19 figure stands at 14,465 with 6,954 patients recovered and 288 fatalities. Rajasthan has reported 7,536 cases of which 4,276 have recovered and 170 patients are dead.

Madhya Pradesh has reported 7,024 positive cases so far of which 3,689 patients have recovered and 305 patients have lost their lives due to the virus. In Uttar Pradesh, as many as 6,724 people have confirmed COVID-19, of which 3,824 recovered and 177 people succumbed to it.

In Kerala, which reported the country's first COVID-19 case, 964 people have been detected positive for coronavirus so far.

Over the major part of the last week, the country marked significant and consecutive highest jumps in the COVID-19 tally.

Interestingly, even though the virus tally continues to spike, new guidelines issued by the central government pertaining to Lockdown 4.0 remain enforced. Several restrictions have been lifted, which includes permitting transport services, reopening of shops, and resuming online shopping. According to the central government's most recent order, all activities, except the ones "specifically prohibited", will be allowed in green, orange, red, and buffer zones, which continue to be classified by the States/UTs and district authorities.

Domestic flight services resumed in India on Monday, while international flights are to start soon as well, the central government has informed as part of its gradual reboot of air travel services in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak.

It is now increasingly becoming likely that India, although well into the fourth phase of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19)-necessitated nationwide lockdown, is quickly becoming one of the biggest COVID-19 hotspots in the world.