India Reports Its Highest Spike of 478 Coronavirus Cases in 24 Hours, Death Toll Surges to 62

New Delhi: The number of coronavirus cases climbed to 2,547 in the country on Friday while the death toll rose to 62, registering a jump of 478 cases in 24 hours, according to data from the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

The number of active COVID-19 cases stands at 2,322, while 162 people were either cured or discharged and one had migrated, it added.

In the updated data, six fresh deaths were reported — four were from Telengana and one each from Gujarat and Punjab.

Maharashtra has reported the most number of deaths (16) so far, followed by Gujarat (eight), Telangana (seven), Madhya Pradesh (six), Punjab (five), Delhi (four), Karnataka and West Bengal (three each), and Jammu and Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh and Kerala (two each).

Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar and Himachal Pradesh have reported a death each.

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) said a total of 69,245 samples have been tested as of 9pm on April 3 and 2,653 individuals have confirmed positive among suspected cases and contacts of known positive cases in India. As per the ministry data, the 2,547 figure includes 55 foreign nationals.

The ministry said the highest number of confirmed cases of the infection was reported from Maharashtra (335) followed by Tamil Nadu (309) and Kerela (286). The number of cases in Delhi has gone up to 219, in UP to 172, in Rajasthan to 167, in Telangana 158, and Andhra Pradesh to 132.

The cases in Karnataka have risen to 124, MP has reported 104 cases so far, Gujarat 95 while Jammu and Kashmir has 75 positive patients.

The number of cases have risen to 63 in West Bengal. Haryana has reported 49 cases of COVID-19 so far followed by Punjab with 48 cases.

Bihar has 29 cases, Chandigarh 18, Assam 16 and Ladakh has reported 14 cases so far. Ten cases have been reported from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

Uttarakhand has reported 10 cases while Chhattisgarh has nine positive patients. Goa and Himachal Pradesh have reported six coronavirus cases each. Odisha and Puducherry have five cases each.

Jhakhand and Manipur have reported two cases each while Mizoram and Arunachal Pradeh have reported a case each.

"The remaining 77 cases are being reassigned to states for contact tracing," the ministry said on its website.