With the number of coronavirus cases rising rapidly in the country and total cases crossing over 2.86 lakh on Thursday, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) said that there is no "community transmission" of COVID-19 in India.
The country witnessed the highest single-day spike of 9,996 more cases in the last 24 hours and the count reached 2,86,579. In a single day, as many as 357 deaths were reported and the toll increased to 8,102.
Out of the total number of cases, 1,37,448 are active, while 1,41,029 have been cured/discharged/migrated.
In Maharashtra, coronavirus cases in the state reached 94,041 including 46,086 active cases and 3,438 deaths which are highest in the country.
Here are the top coronavirus-related developments of today:
1- There is no community transmission of COVID-19, Professor (Dr) Balram Bhargava, DG, ICMR, said.
"India is such a large country and prevalence is very low that we have found that prevalence is less than one per cent in the small districts, in the urban areas it might be a little over one per cent and slightly higher in containment areas. India is not in community transmission," he said.
2- Lav Agrawal, Joint Secretary, Health Ministry, said that India's recovery rate is 49.21 per cent.
3- A total of 52,13,140 samples have been tested in the country, including 1,51,808 in the last 24 hours, according to ICMR.
4- There have been around 2,098 coronavirus deaths in Delhi, claimed Jai Prakash, Chairperson, Standing Committee, North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) on Thursday. According to the last bulletin by the Delhi government, there have been 984 coronavirus deaths in the national capital.
5- 1,875 COVID-19 cases and 23 deaths were reported in Tamil Nadu on Thursday, taking the total number of cases in the state is now at 38,716, according to the state health department. There are 17,659 active cases, 20,705 discharged and 349 deaths in the state.
6- One new case of COVID-19 reported in ITBP in the last 24 hours. There are a total of 22 active cases and 194 have recovered till date.
7- Two deaths and 20 new positive cases of COVID-19 were reported in the Dharavi area of Mumbai. The total number of cases in the area is now 1,984 and 75 deaths, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said.
8- 204 new COVID19 positive cases reported in the state in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of positive cases in the state to 6,245, according to the Karnataka Health Department.
9- Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan informed that 83 people tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday, taking the total number of cases in the state to 2,244, including 1,258 active cases. He said that there are 133 hotspots in the state.
10- Himachal Pradesh reports 458 COVID-19 positive cases till now including 179 active cases, 262 recoveries and six deaths as per the state health department.
Remdesivir, an antiviral drug and Tocilizumab, an immunomodulator, are being considered by the Union Health Ministry for 'restricted, emergency use' and on 'compassionate grounds' to treat severely ill COVID-19 patients.
( With inputs from ANI )