Maharashtra and Delhi are leading among 10 states and Union territories in India that accounted for 80 per cent of the coronavirus deaths in the past 24 hours. Similarly, they were also among the top three states/UTs figures-wise that reported new corona cases or recoveries during the period.

The latest data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHF) has raised concerns that the trend might be a signal of another deadly wave of Covid-19, even as the central government is leaving no stone unturned to break the chain of transmission and ensure no more fatalities.

The all-India fatality rate stood at 1.48 per cent on Thursday, with 550 new fatalities in the past 24 hours. A total of 1,28,121 Covid-19 deaths have so far been reported across the country.

Ten states and Union Territories accounted for 80 per cent of these latest fatalities, including Maharashtra which topped the list with 22.7 per cent share (125 deaths), followed by Delhi and West Bengal with 85 and 49 new deaths respectively.

Punjab was fourth with 31 fatalities, followed by Kerala (29), Tamil Nadu (28), Haryana (25), Karnataka (23), and Uttar Pradesh (23).

Officials in the Ministry and medical experts advised following of government guidelines to contain the spread of the disease to bring the death rate to zero.

The Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDCP) in its report earlier this month suggested that "adults of any age with certain underlying medical conditions are at increased risk for severe illness from the virus that causes COVID-19".

As per the list, adults with conditions like cancer, chronic kidney diseases, COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), heart conditions leading to heart failure, coronary artery disease or cardiomyopathies, immunocompromised state (weakened immune system) from solid organ transplant, obesity (body mass index (BMI) of 30 kg/m2 or higher but < 40 kg/m2, severe obesity (BMI more than 40 kg/m2), pregnancy, sickle cell disease, smoking and Type 2 diabetes mellitus are at increased risk of severe illness from the virus.

As per the MoHF data, 10 states and UTs reported 78 per cent of new coronavirus cases reported in last 24 hours, with all-India tally totalling 47,905.

Delhi observed another spike and reported its highest daily tally of 8,593 infections, followed by Kerala with 7,007 cases, and Maharashtra with 4,907 cases.

West Bengal was fourth with 3,872 new cases, followed by Karnataka 2,584, Haryana 2,546, Tamil Nadu 2,184, Rajasthan 2,080, Uttar Pradesh 1,848, and Andhra Pradesh 1,732.

Currently, there are 4,89,294 active cases across India, whereas 80,66,501 patients have been cured and discharged so far. India's overall tally on Thursday stood at 86,83,916.

The recovery rate has since gone up to 92.89 per cent. The gap between recovered cases and active cases has steadily widened to 75,77,207.

The trend of daily new recoveries outnumbering daily new cases continued for the 40th day with 52,718 new recoveries registered in the last 24 hours.

As many as 78 per cent of the new recoveries are concentrated in 10 states and UTs -- Maharashtra (9,164), Delhi (7,264), Kerala (7,252), West Bengal (4,431), Karnataka (2,881), Tamil Nadu (2,210), Chhattisgarh (2,195), Uttar Pradesh (2,112), Haryana (1,829), and Rajasthan (1,801).

For the successive fifth day, cases did not cross the 50,000 mark in a 24-hour cycle.

(IANS)