The number of confirmed novel coronavirus cases in India inched closer to 5.5 lakh-mark as 19,459 new COVID-19 cases were reported on Monday, official sources said.
As per the Union Health Ministry, India has so far reported 5,48,318 COVID-19 positive cases of which 2,10,120 are active cases while 3,21,723 patients have recovered from COVID-19.
Despite the number of recovered cases surpassing the number of active cases, the death toll has risen to 16,475 as 380 more deaths were reported in the last 24 hours.
In India, Maharashtra continues to be the worst-hit state with 1,64,626 COVID-19 cases, followed by Delhi with 83,077 cases and Tamil Nadu with 82,275 cases.
In Maharashtra, 5,493 new COVID-19 cases were reported in the last 24 hours taking the total active cases in the state to 70,622. The state's death toll increased to 7,429 with 156 more deaths reported in the last 24 hours while the recovered cases stood at 86,575, according to the Union Health Ministry.
In Delhi, a total of 2,889 fresh cases and 65 deaths were reported in the last 24 hours. With these, the active cases in the national capital rose to 27,847 and the death toll to 2,623. The total recovered cases in Delhi is 52,607.
In Tamil Nadu, of the total 82,275 cases, 35,659 are active while the number of recoveries is 45,537. The death toll in the state increased to 1,079 with 54 more deaths being reported in the last 24 hours, as per the Health Ministry data.
Meanwhile, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday said that the Delhi government will start a plasma bank at the Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences in South Delhi's Vasant Kunj to fight the novel coronavirus.
Addressing the media, Kejriwal said that the bank will start operation in the next two days and appealed to those who have recovered from COVID-19 infection to donate plasma to save lives.
"The Delhi government has so far conducted clinical trials of plasma therapy on 29 coronavirus patients and the result was encouraging," Kejriwal added.
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