India has registered 85,215 coronavirus cases, data from state health departments showed on Friday, crossing the Covid-19 tally of China where the virus emerged late last year. India now is ranked 11th in the world in terms of coronavirus cases.
However, India’s fatality rate still remains significantly better than China’s at 3.2 percent compared to 5.5 percent. More than 27,000 people have recovered in India, according to the latest data from the Union Health Ministry.
Across the world, more than 4,400,000 people have been affected by the novel coronavirus, with the US reporting nearly a third of the cases - by far the highest. Over 300,000 people have died from the deadly respiratory disease. Russia, UK and Spain are at second, third and fourth spots, with well over 200,000 cases each.
In China, less than 100 people are now undergoing treatment for Covid-19, even though some new cases have emerged in the eastern city of Wuhan – the early epicentre of the deadly virus. China has 4,633 deaths due to Covid-19, but more than 78,000 have been discharged after recovery.
While China and several other countries have begun reopening their economies, there are fresh concerns about a possible re-emergence of the virus.
In India, more people tested positive for the deadly virus infection on Friday from Kashmir to Kerala and from Karnataka to Bihar, even as authorities talked about greater relaxations in the fourth phase of the lockdown beginning Monday to contain economic costs of the pandemic.
The Union Health Ministry said the number of deaths due to Covid-19 across India has risen to 2,649 and the number of cases has climbed to 81,970, registering an increase of 100 deaths and 3,967 cases since Thursday morning.
Jammu and Kashmir, Bihar and Karnataka breached the 1,000-mark in terms of the number of people tested positive, while testing and containment measures were ramped up in places like Kerala, Goa and Manipur that were being seen as being mostly virus-free a few days ago.
Many cases were also reported from big urban clusters. Maharashtra, the most-affected state, reported 1,576 new cases to take its tally to 29,100, including 1,068 deaths. Tamil Nadu crossed the 10,000 mark with 434 new cases, while Gujarat saw 340 more people testing positive to push its tally to 9,932.
According to the Union Health Ministry, 30 municipal areas account for 79 percent of India’s coronavirus cases.
India has been under a lockdown since March 25, which was initially scheduled to end on April 14, but has got extended twice - first till May 3 and then till May 17 with some relaxations.
A final decision on the fourth phase is expected soon, but officials said there could be greater relaxations and more flexibility for states and union territories. Measures being explored, include gradual reopening of the railways and domestic airlines, they said.