India’s COVID death count rises by 120, record jump of nearly 5,000 new cases

Team Udayavani, May 17, 2020, 10:01 AM IST

New Delhi: The death toll due to COVID-19 rose to 2,872 and the number of total positive cases climbed to 90,927 on Sunday, registering an increase of 120 fatalities and a record jump of 4,987 cases in 24 hours, since 8 AM Saturday, according to the Union Health Ministry.

The number of active COVID-19 cases stood at 53,946, while 34,108 people have recovered and one patient has migrated, the ministry said.

“Thus, around 37.51 per cent patients have recovered so far,” a senior health ministry official said.

The total confirmed cases include foreign nationals too.

Of the 120 deaths reported since Saturday 8 am, 67 were in Maharashtra, 19 in Gujarat, nine in Uttar Pradesh, seven in West Bengal, six in Delhi, four in Madhya Pradesh, three in Tamil Nadu and two in Haryana and one each from Andhra Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Rajasthan.

Of the total 2,872 fatalities, Maharashtra tops the tally with 1,135 deceased, Gujarat comes second with 625, followed by Madhya Pradesh at 243, West Bengal at 232, Delhi at 129, Rajasthan at 126, Uttar Pradesh at 104, Tamil Nadu at 74 and Andhra Pradesh at 49.

The death toll reached 36 in Karnataka, 34 Telangana and 32 in Punjab.

Haryana has reported 13 fatalities due to the disease, Jammu and Kashmir has 12 deaths while Bihar has registered seven and Kerala has reported four deaths.

Jharkhand, Chandigarh, Himachal Pradesh and Odisha have recorded three COVID-19 fatalities each while Assam has reported two deaths.

Meghalaya, Uttarakhand and Puducherry have reported one fatality each, according to the ministry data.

According to the ministry’s website, more than 70 per cent of the deaths are due to co-morbidities.