NEW DELHI — India recorded a spike of 34,956 novel coronavirus (Covid-19) cases and 687 deaths in the last 24 hours, pushing the tally to 1,040,948 cases with a death total of 26,295, the health ministry's data stated on Saturday. India had crossed the one million mark with over 25,000 fatalities on Friday. According to Health Ministry data, as many as 654,193 patients have recovered, almost twice the number of active patients at 3,58,692. The rate of recovery fell slightly to 62.93 percent. India, however, remains the third worst-affected country after the US and Brazil. During the last 24 hours, 3,61,024 samples were tested, as the testing lab network continues to expand. So far, more than 1,206 labs have enabled people to undergo coronavirus tests. Maharashtra remained the worst-hit state, with 292,589 cases and 11,452 casualties followed by Tamil Nadu with total 160,907 cases, including 2,315 deaths. With 1,462 new coronavirus cases and 26 deaths in the last 24 hours, the national capital recorded a total tally of 120,107 cases and 3,571 deaths. States with more than 10,000 cases included Gujarat (46,430), Uttar Pradesh (45,163), Rajasthan (27,789), Madhya Pradesh (21,081), West Bengal (38,011), Haryana (24,797), Karnataka (55,115), Andhra Pradesh (40,646), Telangana (42,496), Assam (20,646), Jammu and Kashmir (12,757), Kerala (11,066), Odisha (16,110) and Bihar (23,589). South Indian cities of Bengaluru and Hyderabad, and the west Indian city of Pune have become the new hotspots for coronavirus in India, according to a new report by the Times of India. The coronavirus outbreak initially centered on four of India's largest cities, Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Ahmedabad, but now appears to be shifting to some of India's other large cities. According to the Times of India, Bengaluru has experienced the highest rate of increase in cases over the last four weeks, with an average of a 12.9 percent increase in cases each day. The death rate has also surged in the city, growing at 8.9 percent each day. Hyderabad, the capital of Telangana state, experienced the second highest increase rate at 7.8 percent, but the death rate in the city remained stable. Cases also increased by 4.5 percent in Pune, near Mumbai, and 4.3 percent in Surat, a coastal city in western India, also relatively close to Mumbai. — Agencies
