Covid-19: 17,296 cases, 407 deaths reported in India in last 24 hours

New Delhi: The alarming surge in coronavirus cases in India does not seem to slow down as the central government on Friday reported a new single-day record for fresh Covid-19 infections.

With the spike in the past 24 hours, the overall number of cases in the country is all set to cross the 5 lakh mark by tomorrow. Even after six months of the pandemic breaking out in China’s Wuhan, neither the World Health Organisation, nor countries have been able to discover a vaccine for the deadly virus.

As per the latest bulletin by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, there has been a rise of 17,296 cases and 407 deaths across the country in the last 24 hours. With the fresh additions, the overall tally in India is all set to breach the 5 lakh mark on Saturday.

“A total of 4,90,401 positive cases have so far been reported in the country, which includes 1,89,463 active cases, 2,85,637 who have been cured/discharged and 15,301 deaths,” the Union Health Ministry said on Thursday.

Maharashtra continues to record the highest number of cases (1,42,900), followed by Delhi (70,390), Tamil Nadu (67,468), Gujarat (28,943), Uttar Pradesh (19,557), Rajasthan (16,009), West Bengal (15,173) and Madhya Pradesh (12,448).