Covid-19: For first time, new cases top 5,000; deaths up by 154

NEW DELHI: Covid-19 infections continued to surge in the country on the last day of lockdown 3.0, with the number of new cases topping 5,000 in a single day for the first time on Sunday on the back of another explosion of cases in Maharashtra, which reported a record 2,347 fresh infections.

As many as 154 deaths from the virus were reported on Sunday, the highest single-day toll so far if one discounts the 70-odd “back-dated” deaths added on May 5 which took that day’s total to 199. India’s overall Covid-19 death toll crossed the 3,000 mark and stood at 3,023 — a mortality rate of 3.2%.

Maharashtra reported 63 deaths, 38 of these in Mumbai alone, followed by 34 in Gujarat (31 in Ahmedabad) and 19 in Delhi, which has been facing flak for “under-reporting” Covid deaths.

While these numbers (cases and deaths) are based on data directly sourced from state governments, health ministry too showed a record single-day jump of around 5,000 cases on Sunday. The ministry, however, said the doubling time of coronavirus infection had improved to 13.6 days in