Coronavirus Outbreak: COVID-19 tally in India reaches 27,892; death toll hits 872

The total number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 infection in India neared the 28,000-mark on Monday, while the death toll had topped the 850-mark on this day. At 9:15 AM on Monday, India's COVID-19 tally stood at 27,892, which includes 20,835 active cases, 6,185 cured, discharged, or migrated patients, and 872 deaths.

According to the Union Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, as many as 1,396 new cases and 48 deaths were reported in the country in the last 24 hours.

In India, the state of Maharashtra has emerged as the epicenter of coronavirus spread where cases have crossed the 8,000-mark. According to the Health Ministry, Maharashtra continues to be the worst-hit state with 8,068 cases of which 1,076 patients have recovered and 342 patients have died.

Mumbai, the financial capital of the country, has become the hotbed of the coronavirus spread in the state. Notably, one of the real challenges in Mumbai is controlling the disease contamination in Asia's biggest slum -- Dharavi, which is an extremely densely-populated region. State chief minister Uddhav Thackeray had on Sunday asserted that the government is taking all possible measures to contain the spread of COVID-19, adding that a special team of expert doctors has been formed. He also said that further decisions on the lockdown will be taken only after May 3.

Gujarat now stands in the second spot with 3,301 cases, of which 313 have recovered and 151 people have died.

Meanwhile, Delhi's count stands at 2,918 of which 877 patients have recovered, while 54 patients have lost their lives.

Tamil Nadu's COVID-19 figure stands at 1,885 with 1,020 patients recovered and 24 fatalities.

Rajasthan has reported 2,185 cases of which 518 have recovered and 33 patients are dead.

Madhya Pradesh has reported 2,096 positive cases so far of which 302 patients have recovered and 103 patients have lost their lives due to the virus.

In Uttar Pradesh, as many as 1,868 people have COVID-19, of which 289 recovered and 29 people have succumbed to it.

In Kerala, which reported the country's first COVID-19 case, 458 people have been detected positive for coronavirus.

As the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic continues to spread like wildfire in India, the central and state governments are respectively amping up all of their efforts to check potential contamination. A nationwide lockdown is in place, as announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on April 14, who had declared an extension of the nationwide lockdown till May 3 to battle the novel coronavirus. Monday marks Day 13 of the extended COVID-19 Lockdown 2.0.

However, a few states are willing to extend the lockdown beyond May 3 to ensure that the situation remains under control. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will have a meeting with chief ministers of all states via video conferencing today. The meeting is said to be focused on deciding the way ahead in the fight against coronavirus as well as strategies to exit from the current lockdown in a phased manner.

Meanwhile, Union Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan on Sunday said that 283 districts in the country haven't reported a single case of coronavirus till now. The minister also apprised that as of now, the mortality rate of COVID-19 patients in India is 3.1%, compared to 7% at the global level.