COVID-19 Case: India Records New Single-Day High

Coronavirus cases across India scaled a new single-day high of 40,425 today taking the total to 11,18,043.

A total of 681 deaths were reported in the last 24 hours, pushing the total death toll to 27,497, reports our New Delhi correspondent quoting health ministry sources.

Active Covid-19 cases today stood at 3,90,459 while 700,086 people have successfully fought the contagion so far in the country, said the ministry data. The recovery rate thus stands at 62.61 per cent.

Maharashtra has reported the highest number of cases, followed by Tamil Nadu, Delhi, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had a video conference with chief ministers of seven states -- Bihar, Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand -- on Sunday to review the coronavirus situation there.

All these states have been witnessing a surge in coronavirus cases.

Maharashtra, the worst-hit state, reported its highest-ever single-day surge in new cases till Sunday night, at 9,518, taking the state's total tally to 3,10,455.

Tamil Nadu recorded 4,979 fresh cases in the last 24 hours as the overall tally crossed 1.70 lakh in the state.

The single-day cases in Chennai city stood at 1,200 new cases till Sunday after a three-week complete lockdown.

Uttar Pradesh has recorded 49,650 cases so far and its capital Lucknow is seeing a surge and so is the state's biggest industrial city Kanpur, about 80km from Lucknow.

The West Bengal Covid-19 death toll in 24 hours reached 1,112 after 36 people succumbed to the disease, the highest so far in a single day in the state, according to a bulletin released by the health department.

At least 2,278 people, the highest in a single day, tested positive in West Bengal for the disease, taking the total infection tally to 42,487, the bulletin added.

As fresh cases across India continue to rise rapidly, Health Minister Harsh Vardhan stressed the importance of plasma therapy to contain the disease.

"Every plasma donor counts in our journey towards victory over Covid-19 and we need more and more of these plasma warriors to help fight the pandemic till a definitive treatment or vaccine is developed," he said last night.

Vardhan acknowledged the huge potential of this strategy and the government's will to tap into it. "As of now convalescent plasma therapy has been approved for compassionate use with various plasma banks being set up to ensure round the clock availability."

However, Vardhan said that despite the fact that India has one of the highest cure rates amongst Covid-19 patients, the plasma donation is yet to pick up.