Mumbai, April 15: The coronavirus cases in India spiked by over 1,000 in the past 24 hours, taking the overall toll above the 11,400-mark. As per the latest data released by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Wednesday, the number of active COVID-19 infections in the nation stood at 9,756. A total of 1,306 patients have been discharged or cured, whereas, the death count stands at 377. COVID-19 Live Tracker: Map The Spread of Coronavirus in All States of India.

"38 deaths and 1076 new cases reported in last 24 hours. India's total number of coronavirus positive cases rises to 11,439," said the statement issued by the Health Ministry. The exponentially rising numbers raise concern on whether India, a nation of 1.3 billion, is transcending into the community transmission stage of the disease.

The worst affected among all Indian states is Maharashtra, where the toll of COVID-19 cases has reached near 2,900-mark. The state has also recorded 178 deaths along with 259 recoveries. Delhi with nearly 1,600 cases and Tamil Nadu with 1,230 cases are also among the provinces severely affected by COVID-19.

Update by ANI

The fresh spike in coronavirus toll comes a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced an extension in the nationwide lockdown to contain COVID-19 transmission till May 3. The first phase of the shutdown was scheduled to end on April 14. Based on the feedback received from the state governments, experts and citizen groups, the Centre decided to prolong the restrictions with the intent to save lives.

Modi, however, announced that regions or districts which succeed in containing coronavirus and report no COVID-19 hotspots in the next couple of days would be allowed to resume some economic activities from April 20. Any relaxation would only be based on strict adherence to the social distancing norms, the PM stressed.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 15, 2020 09:13 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).