New Delhi, April 29: India's COVID-19 tally surged to 31,332 on Wednesday with 73 deaths and 1,897 new cases reported in past 24 hours, the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said. This is the sharpest ever increase in death cases in India. Of the total cases, 22,629 are active cases while 7,695  individuals have been cured and discharged from the hospitals. The death toll has mounted to 1007 while one person has migrated to another country, according to the data released by the Health Ministry on April 29. Catch all Live News Updates on COVID-19 in India and other parts of the world.

Of the affected states in India, Maharashtra continued to be the worst-affected with 9,318 coronavirus cases. According to state health officials, 729 new COVID-19 cases were reported in the state. With the large number of fatalities, the death toll in the state touched 400, up from 369 on Monday.  Plasma Therapy in Experimental Stage, No One Should Use It, Says Health Ministry.

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Of the deaths, 25 were recorded in Mumbai, the city's highest ever, taking its toll from 219 to 244, while the number of COVID-19 positive patients in the city shot up from 5,776 to 6,169. In Dharavi, the number of positive cases surged from 288 to 330 and 19 deaths till date.

In Delhi, the total COVID-19 cases reached 3,314 with 2,182 active cases on Tuesday. While no death was reported in the city on the third consecutive day, a total of 201 patients recovered till Tuesday. The death toll due to coronavirus  in Delhi remained at 54 since April 25.

On Tuesday, the Health Ministry stated that the plasma therapy was at an experimental stage and there was no enough evidence as of now to claim it can be used as treatment for COVID-19 patients. The Ministry further added that considering it as treatment of coronavirus was wrong, illegal and might create "life threatening" complications.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 29, 2020 09:09 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).