Covid-19: New cases surge to 49,000+, deaths to 757

NEW DELHI: Daily Covid-19 cases in the country inched closer to the 50,000 mark, with 49,000-plus fresh infections reported on Friday. The death toll also rose by a record 757 as the pandemic’s massive surge continued, with both fresh cases and deaths touching new peaks for the third day running. Daily cases had touched 40,000 for the first time this Sunday.


Since then, the count climbed to new peaks of 46,278 and 48,285 on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively, before rising to 49,055 on Friday. The daily death toll has seen a similar rise, with record high counts of 687 and 750 on Wednesday and Thursday, when deaths had crossed 700 for the first time.


Daily cases in the country have more than doubled since the beginning of this month.On an average, India reported 45,515 cases every day in the past four days, up from 22,366 in the first four days of July. India’s coronavirus caseload crossed the 13lakh mark on Friday, ending the day at 13,36,050, and deaths went past 31,000, as per official data collated from state governments.

Acomparison of state numbers between July 1-4 and July 19-23 shows that in 20 of the 22 worst-hit states, daily cases have risen by at least 30% — indicating that infections have been spiking across the country, although not at the same rate.

The only real exception was Delhi, where daily cases have fallen by 53%. Maharashtra again led the case tally on Friday, registering 9,615 cases, its third highest count of cases till date. With this, Maharashtra’s total cases went past the 3.5-lakh mark.

At least seven states recorded their highest single-day jump in cases, led by Andhra Pradesh, which reported as many as 8,147 fresh infections. AP became the second state after Maharashtra to record 8,000 cases in a day. Other states that reported their biggest spike in infections were Tamil Nadu (6,785 new cases), UP (2,712), Bihar (1,820), Odisha (1,594), Punjab (482) and Chhattisgarh (477, including 106 from late Thursday night).