More than half of India’s districts have at least one COVID-19 case

As many as 408 of India’s 736 districts, spread out in 32 states and union territories, have now reported at least one case of COVID-19.

Overall, India has detected 15,712 cases as of 8 a.m. on April 19, according to the health ministry’s latest data. However, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), in its 9 p.m. update on April 18, said 16,365 individuals had tested positive--653 more than the ministry’s update from this morning.

India has reported 216 more COVID-19 recoveries since last night. Tamil Nadu reported the most (82), followed by Madhya Pradesh (58).

Tamil Nadu--which has detected 1,372 cases--has reported a fall in active cases (to 992) for the fourth consecutive day (since April 15).

Maharashtra has reported 328 more COVID-19 cases since April 18. This is the third highest single-day increase reported by the state, which has the most cases in India (3,651).

At 122, Rajasthan--which has detected a total of 1,351 cases--also reported its third highest single-day increase in COVID-19 cases.

Of the 19 deaths reported since yesterday, Maharashtra has reported 10 and Gujarat has reported five deaths. Maharashtra has the most deaths nationwide (211), while Gujarat has the third highest (53). Together, they account for more than half of all deaths (507) in India.

By 9 p.m. on April 18, India had tested 372,123 samples from 354,969 people, the ICMR said.

(Compiled by Shreehari Paliath)