The death toll due to coronavirus rose to 242 and the number of cases in the country climbed to 7,529 on Saturday, an increase of 768 cases in 24 hours since Friday evening, according to the Union Health Ministry.
While the number of activeCOVID-19 cases stood at 6,634, as many as 652 people have been cured anddischarged, and one had migrated, it said. The total number of cases include 71foreign nationals.
Thirty-six deaths havebeen reported since Friday evening, of which 17 were from Madhya Pradesh, 13from Maharashtra, two each from Gujarat and Telengana, and one each from Delhiand Assam.
Of the total 242 deaths,Maharashtra tops the tally with 110 fatalities, followed by Madhya Pradesh at33, Gujarat at 19 and Delhi at 14. Punjab registered 11 deaths, Telengana ninefatalities and Tamil Nadu eight.
Andhra Pradesh andKarnataka have reported six deaths each while five people have lost their livesin West Bengal. Jammu and Kashmir, and Uttar Pradesh have reported fourfatalities each while Haryana and Rajasthan have recorded three deaths each.
Two deaths have beenreported from Kerala. Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Odisha, Jharkhand and Assamreported one fatality each, according to the health ministry data.
According to ICMR, 7,703 individuals have been tested positive among the suspected cases and contacts of known positive cases in India.