Coronavirus death toll in India rises to 124, positive cases tally close to 5000-mark

New Delhi, Apr 07: The death toll due to the novel coronavirus pandemic rose to 124 and the number of infections climbed to 4,789 in India on Tuesday registering 508 new cases in 24 hours, according to Union Health Ministry data.

The active COVID-19 cases stood at 4,312, while 31853 people were either cured or discharged and one had migrated, the ministry stated.

With 868 cases of COVID-19, Maharashtra has reported the highest number of infections, followed by Tamil Nadu (621) and Delhi (576).

Maharashtra also became the first Indian state to register over 1000 positive cases as the state administration put the total at 1,018, including 116 fresh cases recorded in Mumbai alone, however, the central government's figure for the state was still 28 short of a thousand.

Meanwhile, there is still no decision on a possible extension to the three-week nationwide lockdown in the light of requests by states like Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra and Karnataka favouring an extension. There is also a strong likelihood of a staggered exit after Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Punjab are also said to be in favour of maintaining the restrictions beyond April 14.