Coronavirus update: India’s Covid-19 count crosses 28,000-mark, death toll at 886. State-wise tally here

India's novel coronavirus count has shot past 28,000 after the country recorded 1,463 fresh cases in the last 24 hour amid the 40-day lockdown period, which is now in its final week. According to the latest Ministry of Health and Family Welfare data, the total number of positive Covid-19 cases in the country increased to 28,380 today. The death toll due to the highly contagious disease has reached 886 since the outbreak as 60 deaths got reported since yesterday, it added.

Active cases in India now stands at 21,132. There are also 77 foreign nationals who are affected by the virus, the ministry said. Apart from that, 6,361 patients have been discharged or cured from the virus while one has migrated from the country.

Speaking at the press briefing today, Lav Aggrawal, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Health said that according to the Monday morning data, 6,184 patients have been cured, which also includes 381 people who recovered in the past one day. The recovery rate therefore, is at 22.17% currently. He also added, "16 districts in the country which earlier had cases have not reported any fresh cases since last 28 days while 85 districts have not reported any new cases in the last 14 days."

Aggrawal also said that the stigma regarding spread of the highly contagious virus should be addressed through rigorous campaigning. "We've to understand that there is no risk of transmission from recovered patients. They, in fact, can be a potential source of healing for antibodies using plasma therapy," he said.

The health ministry also pressed on the fact that no community or area should be blamed for Covid-19 spread. Healthcare and sanitation workers should not be targeted.

Meanwhile, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) issued a revised advisory to state governments regarding Rapid Antibody Blood tests. ICMR has written to them to stop using Guangzhou Wondfo Biotech and Zhuhai Livzon Diagnostics kits and return them to be sent back to the suppliers.

During the press briefing, Ministry of Home Affairs informed that about 2,000 or 80% "mandis" are now operational in country.

According to the evening numbers from the health ministry, Maharashtra remained the worst hit state with total number of positive cases rising to 8,068, followed by Gujarat at 3,301 cases, Delhi at 2,918 cases and Rajasthan at 2,185 cases, according to the data. Andhra Pradesh became the next state to cross the 1,000-mark in the number of Covid-19 cases with 1,177cases so far.

The most-affected states according to the deaths recorded are Maharashtra (342), Delhi (54), Gujarat (151), Madhya Pradesh (106), Telangana (26), Andhra Pradesh (31), Uttar Pradesh (31), Punjab (18), Karnataka (20), Tamil Nadu (24), Rajasthan (41), West Bengal (20), Jammu and Kashmir (6), Kerala (4), Jharkhand (3), Haryana (3) and Bihar (2). Meghalaya, Odisha, Assam, Himachal Pradesh and have reported one death each.

However, on a positive note, all coronavirus cases in Tripura, Goa, Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur are now negative, informed respective state officials.

Here is the total coronavirus cases in India, state-wise:

Andaman and Nicobar Islands - 33

Andhra Pradesh - 1177

Arunachal Pradesh - 1

Assam - 36

Bihar - 277

Chandigarh - 30

Chhattisgarh - 37

Delhi - 2918

Goa - 7

Gujarat - 3301

Haryana - 289

Himachal Pradesh - 40

Jammu and Kashmir - 523

Jharkhand -82

Karnataka - 511

Kerala - 469

Ladakh - 20

Madhya Pradesh - 2168

Maharashtra - 8068

Manipur - 2

Meghalaya - 12

Mizoram - 1

Odisha - 108

Puducherry - 8

Punjab - 313

Rajasthan - 2185

Tamil Nadu - 1885

Telangana - 1002

Tripura - 2

Uttarakhand - 51

Uttar Pradesh - 1955

West Bengal - 649

Apart from that, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today held a meeting via video conferencing with the state chief ministers in order to review the lockdown situation in the country as well as discuss methods to combat the spread of Covid-19.

Speaking to the chief ministers, PM Modi said that the “efforts of states should be directed towards converting the red zones into orange and thereafter to green zones," reported Mint. Modi also said that the effect of coronavirus will remain visible in the coming months and masks and face covers will be part of life.

During the meeting, majority of the chief ministers favoured lockdown extension in affected areas, while providing relaxation in other less-affected areas and restoring supply chains.

Globally, the novel coroanvirus cases have surpassed 2.9 million count while the death toll has crossed 206,0000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University Data. United States accounts for more than 965,000 cases while the death toll in the country has neared 55,000-mark.