India records 19,459 more COVID-19 cases, 380 deaths

By Cheena Kapoor

NEW DELHI (AA) - With 19,459 coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours, India's nationwide tally on Monday morning hit 548,318, according to the Health Ministry.

Of these, the last 100,000 cases have been added in the past week.

Meanwhile, the death toll reached 16,475 with 380 more fatalities.

A total of 321,723 people in the country have gone on to make a recovery.

Amid the surge, several states including eastern states of Jharkhand and West Bengal, and northeastern Assam and Manipur have reimposed partial or full lockdown.

"It was mentioned that presently eight states - Maharashtra, Delhi, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, and West Bengal - contribute 85.5 percent active caseload and 87 percent total deaths in India," read a statement from the ministry.

The western state of Maharashtra, which includes the financial capital Mumbai, continues to be the worst-affected state in the country with cases rising to 164,626 and death toll jumping to 7,429, according to the ministry.

The state, the epicenter of the country, reported 5,493 new cases and 156 deaths in the last 24 hours. Out of 156 deaths, 60 occurred in the last 48 hours.

The capital Delhi reported 2,889 new positive cases and 65 deaths. With the second-highest number of COVID-19 cases with over 83,077 infections and 2,623 fatalities., the state currently has 27,847 active cases.

The number of containment zones in Delhi has risen to 417.

The southern state of Tamil Nadu is placed at the third spot having reported 1,079 deaths and 82,275 cases, followed by Gujarat (31,320 cases, 1,808 deaths), Uttar Pradesh (22,147 cases, 660 deaths), and Rajasthan (17,271 cases, 399 deaths).

Tamil Nadu has been under complete lockdown for the past few weeks to contain the spread of coronavirus.