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India’s COVID-19 death toll nears 700; total cases 21,393

NEW DELHI, INDIA – APRIL 22: Nazrul Haq Ansari sits with his daughter, a resident in a slum, works as rickshaw puller has been without work, as India remains under an unprecedented extended lockdown over the highly contagious coronavirus (COVID-19) on April 22, 2020 in New Delhi, India. Estimated to form 22 percent of Indias population, slum dwellers who live in cramped, shabby conditions, and eke out a living by doing menial jobs, are among the worst hit by the nationwide lockdown imposed by the Indian government on March 25 to curb the spread of coronavirus which has infected over 20,000 people and caused over 650 deaths in the country. The Dharavi slum in Indias Maharashtra state has already reported 11 deaths and nearly 170 positive cases since the first Covid-19 positive case on April 2 there and health experts have warned that outbreaks of the disease in other slums across India could have a devastating impact due to overcrowding, poor sanitation and low immunity. (Photo by Yawar Nazir/Getty Images)

By: AswathyNair

INDIA’s health ministry on Thursday (23) said that the country’s total COVID-19 cases have jumped to 21,393 with 681 deaths.

A total of 29 deaths were reported since Wednesday evening, of which 18 fatalities were reported from Maharashtra, eight from Gujarat, two from Rajasthan and one from Delhi, the ministry said.

The number of active COVID-19 cases stood at 16,454, while 4,257 people have been cured and discharged, one patient has migrated, it said.

The total number of cases includes 77 foreign nationals.

Maharashtra tops the death tally with 269 fatalities, followed by Gujarat  (103), Madhya Pradesh (80), Delhi (48), Rajasthan (27), Andhra Pradesh (24) and Telengana (23).

The death toll reached 21 in Uttar Pradesh, 18 in Tamil Nadu and 17 in Karantaka. Punjab has registered 16 deaths, while West Bengal has reported 15 fatalities due to COVID-19 so far.

The disease has claimed five lives in Jammu and Kashmir. Kerala, Jharkhand and Haryana have recorded three deaths each.

Bihar has reported two deaths, while Meghalaya, Himachal Pradesh, Odisha and Assam have reported one fatality each, according to the ministry data.

The highest number of confirmed cases in the country are from Maharashtra (5,652), followed by Gujarat (2,407), Delhi (2,248), Rajasthan (1,890), Tamil Nadu (1,629) and Madhya Pradesh (1,592).

The number of COVID-19 cases has gone up to 1,449 in Uttar Pradesh, 945 in Telangana and 813 in Andhra Pradesh. The number of cases has risen to 456 in West Bengal, 438 in Kerala, 427 in Karnataka, 407 in Jammu and Kashmir, 262 in Haryana and 251 in Punjab.

Bihar has reported 143 coronavirus cases, while Odisha has 83 such cases. Forty-nine people have been infected with the virus in Jharkhand, while Uttarakhand has 46 cases.

Himachal Pradesh has 40 cases and Chhattisgarh 36. Assam has registered 35 infections so far. Chandigarh has 27 COVID-19 cases, while 18 cases have been reported from Ladakh and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands each, the ministry said.

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