Maharashtra accounts for most number of active COVID-19 cases, deaths in country: Health ministry

New Delhi, Dec 4: Maharashtra accounts for the highest number of both 86,612 active COVID-19 cases and 47,472 fatalities in the country, according to the latest Union health ministry data on Friday.

In terms of active cases, Maharashtra is followed by Kerala with 61,342 cases and Delhi with 29,120 cases. As far as the number of fatalities is concerned, Maharashtra is followed by Karnataka (11,821) and Delhi (9,424). Maharashtra also accounts for the highest number of recoveries so far which is over 17 lakh.

It is followed by Andhra Pradesh (8,56,320) and Karnataka (8,52,584). The health ministry said 80.19 per cent of the new recovered cases reported in a span of 24 hours are contributed by 10 states and union territories -- Maharashtra, Kerala, Delhi, West Bengal, Rajasthan, Haryana, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat.

Maharashtra leads with 8,066 persons recovering from COVID-19, while Kerala recorded 5,590 recoveries and Delhi 4,834. Ten states and union territories contributed 75.76 per cent of the new cases reported in a span of 24 hours -- Kerala, Maharashtra, Delhi, West Bengal, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh.

Kerala reported 5,376 new cases in the 24-hour span. Maharashtra registered 5,182 new cases, while Delhi recorded 3,734 new infections during the period. The ministry said 540 case fatalities were reported in the span of 24 hours, with 77.78 per cent of them from 10 states and UTs -- Maharashtra, Delhi, West Bengal, Haryana, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh.

It said 21.29 per cent of the new fatalities were reported from Maharashtra (115). Delhi saw a fatality count of 82, while West Bengal reported 49 new deaths. When compared globally, India has one of the lowest case fatalities per million population at 101.

India also continues to have one of the lowest cases per million population in the world at 6,936, which is much lower than many other countries of the Western Hemisphere, the ministry said.

India's total coronavirus cases mounted to 95,71,559 on Friday with 36,595 new infections being reported in a day, while the death toll climbed to 1,39,188, the data updated at 8 am showed. There are 4,16,082 active coronavirus infections in the country which comprises 4.35 per cent of the total caseload, the data stated.