COVID-19 death toll rises to 9; cases jump to 468

New Delhi:

The death toll due to the novel coronavirus pandemic rose to nine on Monday after West Bengal and Himachal Pradesh reported a casualty each, while the number of confirmed cases soared to 468, the Union Health Ministry said.

The number of active COVID-19 cases are 424 now and 35 people have been cured/discharged/migrated, while nine have died, taking total number of confirmed cases to 468, including 40 foreign nationals, according to the ministry data.

West Bengal and Himachal Pradesh reported its first death due to COVID-19, while seven deaths were earlier reported from Maharashtra (2), Bihar, Karnataka, Delhi, Gujarat, and Punjab.

According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), a total of “471 individuals have been confirmed positive among suspected cases and contacts of known positive cases”.

A total of 20,707 samples from 19,817 individuals have been tested so far, the ICMR said.

According to the Health Ministry data, Maharashtra has reported the highest number of COVID-19 cases at 74, including three foreigners, followed by Kerala at 67, including seven foreign nationals.

Karnataka has 33 cases of coronavirus patients after seven more persons tested positive for the deadly virus. The number of cases in Telangana have risen to 32, including 10 foreigners, it said.

Uttar Pradesh has 31 positive cases, including a foreign national. Delhi and Gujarat have reported 29 cases each, while Rajasthan has 28 positive cases, including two foreign nationals.

In Haryana, there are 26 cases, including 14 foreigners, while Punjab has 21 cases, according to the data.

Ladakh has 13 cases, while Tamil Nadu has nine cases, including two foreigners. West Bengal reported seven cases, while Madhya Pradesh has six cases so far.

Chandigarh has six cases, while Andhra Pradesh reported seven cases. Jammu and Kashmir has four cases.

Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh have reported three cases each, while there are two case each in Bihar and Odisha. Puducherry and Chhattisgarh have reported a case each.