NEW DELHI, June 3 - The nationwide tally of confirmed COVID-19 infections neared 2.1 lakh on Wednesday with a record number of nearly 9,000 new cases getting detected across states and Union Territories, while the death toll neared the 6,000-mark. The government, however, said recoveries have also crossed the one-lakh mark and the testing infrastructure has been ramped up considerably.
Badly-hit states and Union Territories such as Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Delhi continued to report rising tallies, while new cases continued to surface in several eastern and North-Eastern states including Bihar, West Bengal, Odisha, Assam, Nagaland, Mizoram and Sikkim.
Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala also figured among the states where more people tested positive for COVID-19.
In its morning update, the Union Health Ministry said the total number of cases has risen to 2,07,615 across the country, following an increase of 8,909 cases in the 24 hours since Tuesday 8 AM, while the death toll rose by 217 in this period to 5,815.
The number of active cases has also risen to more than 1.01 lakh, while at least 1,00,302 COVID-19 patients have recovered already giving an overall recovery rate of over 48 per cent, the ministry said.
However, a PTI tally of figures announced by states and UTs, as of 9.30 PM, showed the total number of confirmed cases having risen to close to 2.1 lakh and the death toll to approximately 6,000, showing an increase of nearly 9,000 cases since Tuesday evening and at least 273 more fatalities in this time period.
It also showed a higher number of recoveries at more than 1.03 lakh.
India is the seventh worst-hit nation by the COVID-19 pandemic after the US, Brazil, Russia, the UK, Spain and Italy. India�s tally had crossed the 2-lakh mark on Tuesday night with nearly 1 lakh new cases having emerged in a span of 15 days. The first COVID-19 case in India was detected on January 30. � PTI
