57,000+ cases on Friday as July count tops 11 lakh

Fatalities in July were 1.6 times higher than the deaths recorded in June (11,988). As the pandemic continued to surge, the second half of July saw around 7.3 lakh new infections.

Updated On Aug 1, 2020 at 06:52 AM IST

NEW DELHI: India recorded its single-day highest jump in Covid-19 cases with over 57,000 fresh infections on Friday, the last day of July, capping the deadliest month of the pandemic in the country that saw 11.1 lakh cases and 19,122 deaths.

Cases in July were nearly 2.8 times the number recorded in the previous month, which had around 4 lakh cases. Likewise, fatalities in July were 1.6 times higher than the deaths recorded in June (11,988). As the pandemic continued to surge, the second half of July saw around 7.3 lakh new infections, nearly twice the number reported in the first half.

Fourth straight day of daily cases above 50,000

The death toll in the second half of July was over 11,600, nearly 60% of the month’s total count.

On Friday, 57,151 fresh cases were reported in the country, taking the total caseload to 16,94,918, as per data collated from state governments. This was the fourth straight day of daily cases above 50,000. The toll too stayed above 750 for the fourth day running, with 766 deaths reported on Friday.

Andhra Pradesh reported 10,376 new cases, higher than Maharashtra’s count (10,320) for the second time in the past three days. With this, Andhra Pradesh has recorded 10,000-plus cases on three successive days. The state’s overall caseload crossed 1.4 lakh as it overtook Delhi to take the third position among states with the highest cumulative cases, behind Maharashtra (4.2 lakh) and Tamil Nadu (nearly 2.5 lakh).

Andhra was also among eight states that recorded their highest single-day jump in cases on Friday. The others were Uttar Pradesh (4,453 new cases), Bihar (2,986), Bengal (2,496), Assam (2,112), Telangana (1,986), Kerala (1,310) and Punjab 665.

A day after Maharashtra added the highest number of Covid-19 cases, the state’s tally dropped marginally to 10,320 on Friday, its third highest addition so far. This is the second day in a row that the state has added over 10,000 cases. Active cases in the state crossed the 1.5-lakh mark.