India records 9,985 new COVID-19 cases, 279 fatalities; death toll rises to 7,745

The COVID-19 death toll rose to 7,745 and the number of cases climbed to 2,76,583 in the country after it registered 279 fatalities and 9,985 new infections within a period of 24 hours till Wednesday 8 am, according to the Union Health Ministry

India is the fifth worst-hit nation by the COVID-19 pandemic after the US, Brazil, Russia and the UK, according to data issued by the Johns Hopkins University

The number of active cases in the country stands at 1,33,632, while 1,35,205 people have recovered and one patient has migrated, the ministry said

“Thus, 48.99 per cent of the patients have recovered so far,” it said

The total number of confirmed cases include foreigners

Of the 279 new deaths reported, 120 were in Maharashtra, 33 in Gujarat, 31 in Delhi, 21 in Tamil Nadu, 18 in Uttar Pradesh, 11 in Telangana, 10 in West Bengal, nine in Rajasthan, six each in Madhya Pradesh and Haryana, three in Jammu and Kashmir, two in Punjab, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh, and one each in Bihar, Jharkhand and Tripura

Out of the total 7,745 fatalities, Maharashtra tops the tally with 3,289 deaths, followed by Gujarat with 1,313, Delhi with 905, Madhya Pradesh with 420, West Bengal with 415, Tamil Nadu with 307, Uttar Pradesh with 301, Rajasthan with 255 and Telangana with 148 deaths

The death toll reached 77 in Andhra Pradesh, 66 in Karnataka and 55 in Punjab

Jammu and Kashmir has reported 48 fatalities due to the disease, while 45 deaths have been reported from Haryana, 32 from Bihar, 16 from Kerala, 13 from Uttarakhand, nine from Odisha, eight from Jharkhand and six from Chhattisgarh

Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh have registered five COVID-19 fatalities each and Assam has recorded four deaths so far

Meghalaya, Tripura and Ladakh have reported one COVID-19 fatality each, according to the ministry data

More than 70 per cent of the deaths are due to comorbidities, the ministry’s website stated.