New Delhi/June,17 : India reported 2,003 deaths in the last 24 hours, taking the coronavirus toll to 11,903 on Wednesday. Also, with 10,974 fresh cases, the Covid-19 infections in the country rose to 3,54,065, which includes 1,55,227 active cases and 1,86 934 recoveries, according to the health ministry. On Tuesday, Mahrashtra’s COVID-19 death tally surged by 1,409 , taking its total toll to 5,537, following a data reconciliation process initiated by the state government. Of the 1,409, only 81 of the deaths were reported on Tuesday. The remaining 1,328 deaths have occurred since March and been added to the numbers now.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will on Wednesday hold an interaction with chief ministers of states such as Maharashtra, Delhi, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, and others, which are seeing a spurt in Covid-19 cases and death numbers.
On Tuesday, interacting with chief ministers of 21 states and UTs, the Prime Minister expressed grief over deaths due to the coronavirus Pandemic in India while adding that India’s death toll was one of the lowest. During the meeting, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh requested the Centre to work closely with states to mitigate the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the economy while stressing that the lockdown to limit the spread of the infection can’t continue indefinitely.
Meanwhile, researchers leading the RECOVERY clinical trial in the United Kingdom announced that dexamethasone , an anti-inflammatory low-cost drug, reduces death by up to one-third in hospitalised patients diagnosed with acute respiratory complications of Covid-19.
Globally, as many as 8,155,266 people have been infected with the virus while 441,505 have lost their lives while battling the pandemic and 3,945,763 people have recovered. The US, which is the worst-hit country, has 2,137,707 infections so far with 1,16,962 deaths. Meanwhile, Beijing officials reported 31 new confirmed infections for June 16, bringing the cumulative infections since Thursday to 137 cases, the worst resurgence of the disease in the city since early February.
