With 4,329 deaths, India sees highest daily corona toll; new cases drop to 2,63,533
18 May 2021
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India on Tuesday reported 4,329 coronavirus casualties, the highest daily death, even as the number of new cases dropped to 2,63,533, showing signs of a climbdown from the peaks above 4 lakhs a day.
The number of coronavirus affected discharged from hospitals rose to 4,22,436 on Tuesday.
According to the data shared by the union health ministry, the total number of cases in the country stands at 2,52,28,996, while 2,15,96,512 people have been discharged so far. The toll from the deadly Wuhan virus now stands at 2,78,719.
There are 33,53,765 active cases in the country. 18,44,53,149 people have been vaccinated so far. The previous highest daily death toll of 4,205 was reported on 12 May. On 8 May a day after the country logged its single highest daily spike of 4.14 lakh cases, 4,187 deaths were reported due to the pandemic.
The number of daily cases in the country have seen a decline over the past few days. Union health minister Harsh Vardhan on Monday told the media that the country has witnessed a decline of about one lakh cases in the past 24 hours.
"India recorded a decline of nearly 1 lakh in its active caseload in the last 24 hours. Through sustained containment and treatment efforts, we are observing a steady decline in new cases and a rise in recoveries," he said in a virtual conference.
According to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Centre, India is the second worst-affected country in the world after the US, which has recorded 3.29 crore cases of COVID-19 and witnessed over 5.86 lakh deaths since the pandemic began.
PM Modi on Tuesday interacted with state and district officials on the coronavirus situation through video conference and urged officials to share best practices for it to be used in other parts of the country.
During the interaction, the officials shared their experiences and apprised the prime minister about the innovative steps that were undertaken to manage the recent surge of cases. They also informed about the efforts being undertaken to augment the medical infrastructure and capacity building in rural areas.
