With record 2,411 new Covid-19 cases in 24 hrs, India’s count nears 38,000-mark

New Delhi: With record 2,411 new cases in past 24 hours, the total number of Covid-19 cases in the country climbed to 37,776 on Saturday evening, the Union Health Ministry said. The tally also includes 111 foreign nationals, the Health Ministry said. India's case count on Friday evening stood at 35,365.

Of the total cases, 26,535 are active, 10,017 people have recovered. With 71 more deaths in the last 24 hours, the country's death toll stands at 1,223.

Maharashtra remained the worst-hit state with the total number of cases rising to 11,506 with 485 deaths, although 1,879 people have also recovered from the deadly virus.

Gujarat is the second most affected state as it reported 4,721 cases so far, followed by Delhi with 3,738 cases, according to the Health Ministry data.

The other states which have seen sharp rise in cases are Madhya Pradesh (2,719), Rajasthan (2,666), Tamil Nadu (2,526) and Uttar Pradesh (2,455).

Maharashtra has the highest number of fatalities among all the states, followed by Gujarat with 236 deaths, Madhya Pradesh 145 and Delhi 61.

Nearly 10 lakh tests are said to have been conducted so far across India.

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) is planning to study whether the novel coronavirus strain in India has undergone mutation while spreading within the country over the last two months.

Here's the state-wise tally of the coronavirus cases in the country:

Andaman and Nicobar Islands - 33

Andhra Pradesh - 1,525

Arunachal Pradesh - 1

Assam - 43

Bihar - 471

Chandigarh - 88

Chhattisgarh - 43

Delhi - 3,738

Goa - 7

Gujarat - 4,721

Haryana - 360

Himachal Pradesh - 40

Jammu and Kashmir - 639

Jharkhand - 111

Karnataka - 598

Kerala - 498

Ladakh - 22

Madhya Pradesh - 2,719

Maharashtra - 11,506

Manipur - 2

Meghalaya - 12

Mizoram - 1

Odisha - 154

Puducherry - 8

Punjab - 772

Rajasthan - 2,666

Tamil Nadu - 2,526

Telangana - 1,057

Tripura - 2

Uttarakhand - 58

Uttar Pradesh - 2,455

West Bengal - 795

Over 1.5 million cases of coronavirus have been recorded in Europe, just under half the worldwide total, according to an AFP tally at 0850 GMT on Saturday.

With at least 1,506,853 infections, including 140,260 deaths, Europe is the hardest-hit continent. Across the world, 3,350,224 cases and 238,334 deaths have been recorded.

More than 3.34 million people have been reported to be infected by the novel coronavirus globally and 237,137 have died, according to a Reuters tally. Infections have been reported in more than 210 countries and territories since the first cases were identified in China in December 2019.