New Delhi, April 23: The number of coronavirus (COVID-19) cases in India has reached 21,393 with 1409 new patients being reported in the past 24 hours, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said on Thursday. Out of 21,393 cases, 16,454 are still active, while 4257 patients were successfully treated. The death toll due to coronavirus has risen to 681 from 640 on Wednesday morning, the latest data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare showed. Coronavirus Live Tracker in India.

As many as 41 people died due to coronavirus in India in the past 24 hours. Maharashtra remained the worst-hit state where 5652 coronavirus cases, including 269 deaths have been reported, followed by Gujarat which has reported 2407 cases, including 103 fatalities. Delhi has recorded 2248 cases which include 48 deaths. Rajasthan has seen 1890 cases, including 27 deaths due to coronavirus. Kerala Announces 30% Deduction in Monthly Salary For All Government Staff & Honorarium For 1 Year to Tide Over COVID-19 Induced Financial Crisis.

The government has maintained that the speed of transmission is slowing thanks to the nationwide lockdown that began on March 25 and in place until at least May 3. The "doubling rate" - the number of days it takes infections to multiply by two - had increased to 7.5 days, up from 3.4 days before the lockdown, Joint Secretary at the Health Ministry Lav Agarwal said on Monday. "This is an extremely positive trend," he said.

The number of global coronavirus cases has surpassed the 2.6 million mark, while the death toll has increased to over 183,000, according to the Johns Hopkins University. As of Thursday morning, the overall number of COVID-19 cases across the world stood at 2,627,630, with a total of 183,336 fatalities, the university's Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) revealed in its latest update.

The US continues to be the worst affected, with 841,556 cases and 46,688 deaths, the highest tallies in the world. In terms of cases, Spain accounts for the second-highest at 208,389, followed by Italy 187,327, France 157,135, Germany 150,648 and the UK 134,638, the tally showed. Italy currently has the second-highest number of deaths in the world at 25,085, followed by Spain 21,717, France 21,340, and the UK 18,100.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 23, 2020 09:22 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).