Corona Updates You Must Track: COVID-19 Recoveries Cross 20-Lakh Mark, Maharashtra Remains Worst-Hit State

India cases and toll: India’s coronavirus count rose to 27,67,273 on Wednesday morning with 6,76,514 active cases, 20,37,870 recoveries and 52,889 fatalities, as per the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare data. The number of fresh cases showed an upward tick in the last 24 hours—against 57,981 cases on Sunday and 55,079 cases on Monday, India recorded 64,531 cases on Tuesday.

The number of recoveries has crossed the 20-lakh mark and the recovery rate for COVID-19 stands at 73.64 per cent. In the last 24 hours, 1,092 people succumbed to the disease. India conducted 8,01,518 tests for COVID-19 on Tuesday.

Where Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka stand: After Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh became the third state to cross the 3-lakh mark for total coronavirus cases. With 9,652 fresh cases in the last 24 hours, the state’s COVID-19 tally rose to 3,06,261. Andhra Pradesh has 85,130 active cases of coronavirus while 2,18,311 people have recovered from the illness and 2,820 succumbed to it—88 deaths were reported on Tuesday.

Neighbouring state Karnataka recorded 7,665 cases of coronavirus and 139 deaths in the last 24 hours. Its coronavirus count has climbed to 2,40,948 with 79,798 active cases, 1,56,949 recoveries and 4,201 fatalities. The Karnataka government on Tuesday said pandals for Ganesh Chaturthi can be built and public celebrations can be held on 22 August, but in a restricted manner. No more than 20 people will be allowed inside a pandal at a time, said the revised guidelines.  

COVID-19 tracker for 19 August. Source: Twitter/@COVIDNewsByMIB

Maharashtra remains the worst-hit state in India: Maharashtra reported 422 COVID-19 deaths in the last 24 hours, the highest single-day spike for the western state. With this, the state’s COVID-19 toll stands at 20,687. Maharashtra’s overall case tally rose to 6,15,477 with 11,119 fresh cases on Tuesday.

According to The Times of India report, seven out of 10 districts with the highest COVID-19 positivity rate in the country are in Maharashtra—these are Raigad (31.7 per cent), Thane (29.4 per cent), Nashik (26.7 per cent), Dhule (25.7 per cent), Pune (23.4 per cent), Jalgaon (22 per cent) and Satara (21 per cent).

Global corona update: Globally, the coronavirus tally has climbed to 2,23,07,265 with 1,50,47,783 recoveries and 7,84,353 deaths, according to Worldometer. The US is leading the global tally with 56,55,974 cases of coronavirus, including 1,75,074 deaths.

The Australian government has signed a deal with UK-based pharma major AstraZeneca, which is developing a potential COVID-19 vaccine with Oxford University, to locally manufacture the vaccine if the trials are successful. Australia has recorded 23,989 cases of coronavirus, including 450 deaths.

Story of hope: The COVID-19 pandemic has affected different people in different ways. Many don’t have enough money to buy food or struggle to get food during lockdown. Nal Ullangal Trust, run by the alumni of Jamal Mohamed College in Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu, has been distributing food to the needy ever since the lockdown was enforced in March. The members of this trust distribute food packets to 100 people, primarily relatives of those admitted to the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Government Hospital and street-dwellers, every Sunday, reported The New Indian Express. The trust has so far distributed 20,000 food packets.