India's COVID-19 tally crosses 75 lakh; active cases remain below 8 lakh

A total of 1,14,610 deaths have been reported so far in the country

virus-cells-coronavirus-copy-space-virus-Covid-19-shut Representational image

India crossed the 75 lakh coronavirus cases mark on Monday, with 55,722 new infections and 579 deaths in last 24 hours. There are a total of 75,50,273 cases currently, out of which there are 7,72,055 active cases. The active cases of coronavirus infection remained below 8 lakh for the third consecutive day.

A total of 1,14,610 deaths have been reported so far in the country, including 42,115 from Maharashtra followed by 10,642 from Tamil Nadu, 10,478 from Karnataka, 6,658 from Uttar Pradesh, 6,429 from Andhra Pradesh, 6,056 from West Bengal, 6,009 from Delhi, 4,012 from Punjab and 3,635 from Gujarat. The health ministry stressed that more than 70 per cent of the deaths occurred due to comorbidities.

Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan had said on Sunday that community transmission of the coronavirus infection is restricted to certain districts in a limited number of states, clarifying that "this is not happening across the country". The minister said this during an interaction with his social media followers on the sixth episode of "Sunday Samvaad".

He was responding to a question from a participant, who cited West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's remark that there are instances of community transmission in her state and asked the minister which are the states that have witnessed community transmission of the disease.

"In different pockets across various states, including West Bengal, community transmission of COVID-19 is expected to occur, especially in densely-populated areas. However, this is not happening across the country. Community transmission is limited to certain districts, occurring in a limited number of states," Vardhan said.

He added that as yet, no mutation of the coronavirus has been detected in India that is either more transmission-efficient or more pathogenic.

-Inputs from PTI

📣 The Week is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@TheWeekmagazine) and stay updated with the latest headlines