Govt Says Nearly 30% Covid-19 Cases in India Linked to Nizamuddin Markaz Meet as Toll Rises to 488

New Delhi: The death toll from the coronavirus outbreak rose to 488 and the number of cases to 14,792 in the country on Saturday, registering an increase of 36 deaths and 957 cases since Friday evening, according to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

The number of active COVID-19 cases stood at 12,289 while 2,014 people have been cured and discharged, and one had migrated, it said. The ministry's figure of overall 14,792 cases includes 76 foreign nationals.

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) said 16,365 individuals in the country have so far been confirmed positive for the infection.

Lav Agarwal, Joint Secretary in the ministry, earlier on Saturday said 4,291 cases are epidemiologically linked to the Tablighi Jamaat's event in Delhi's Nizamuddin that took place last month. "These cases are spread across 23 states and Union Territories, which include most of the high-degree burden cases -- Tamil Nadu has 84% cases, Delhi 63% and Assam 91%, Uttar Pradesh 61% and Andaman & Nicobar 83%."

Thirty-six deaths -- 12 from Madhya Pradesh, 10 from Gujarat, seven from Maharashtra, four from Delhi and one each from Andhra Pradesh, Bihar and Jammu and Kashmir -- have been reported since Friday evening, according to the ministry data.

Of the 488 deaths, Maharashtra tops the list with 201 fatalities, followed by Madhya Pradesh at 69, Gujarat at 48 and Delhi at 42 and Telangana at 18. Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh have reported 15 deaths each while Uttar Pradesh has reported 14 fatalities.

Punjab and Karnataka have reported 13 deaths each. Rajasthan has registered 11 deaths while West Bengal has reported 10 fatalities.

Five people have lost their lives in Jammu and Kashmir while Kerala and Haryana have recorded three deaths each. Jharkhand and Bihar have reported two deaths each.

Meghalaya, Himachal Pradesh, Odisha and Assam reported one fatality each.

However, a PTI tally of the figures reported by various states as of Saturday night showed 518 deaths.

There has been a lag in the ministry figures compared to the number of deaths announced by different states, which officials attribute to procedural delays in assigning the cases to individual states.

According to the ministry's data updated in the evening, the highest number of confirmed cases in the country are from Maharashtra at 3,323 followed by Delhi at 1,707, Madhya Pradesh at 1,355 and Tamil Nadu at 1,323. COVID-19 cases have gone up to 1,272 in Gujarat, 1,229 in Rajasthan and 969 in Uttar Pradesh.

Telangana has 791 cases, followed by Andhra Pradesh at 603 and Kerala at 396.

The number of cases has risen to 371 in Karanataka, 328 in Jammu and Kashmir, 287 in West Bengal, 225 in Haryana and 202 in Punjab. Bihar has reported 85 infection cases, while Odisha has 60 coronavirus cases.

Forty-two people were infected with the virus in Uttarakhand, while Himachal Pradesh has 38 cases. Chhattisgarh has 36 cases and Assam has registered 35 cases each.

Jharkhand has 33 cases, Chandigarh has 21 cases and Ladakh has 18, while 12 cases have been reported from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

Meghalaya has reported 11 cases while Goa and Puducherry have reported seven COVID-19 infections each. Manipur and Tripura have two cases each, while Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh have reported a case each.

(With inputs from PTI)