India reports a slight drop in new coronavirus cases

India reported a slight dip in the number of Covid-19 cases today, a day after the nation was close to the 50,000 mark, according to health ministry data.

The total tally in the last 24 hours stood at 47,703 and fresh fatalities at 654, pushing India's virus caseload to 14,83,156, and the death toll to 33,425.

The number of active Covid-19 cases was today pegged at 4,96,988 while 9,52,743 people have recovered, the ministry added.

The recovery rate in Delhi, one of the worst-hit metro cities of India, has gone up to 88 percent, said Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, adding that there was no need to reimpose a lockdown in the capital, unlike several other Indian cities.

In a first for West Bengal, a higher number of Covid-19 patients were discharged from hospitals on a single day on Monday than the number of new cases detected. The state reported 2,112 fresh cases while 2,166 people were discharged in the last 24 hours, according to the state health department bulletin issued last night.

West Bengal's coronavirus case tally crossed the 60,000-mark with 2,112 new cases and 39 deaths in the last 24 hours till Monday night.

Mumbai's Covid-19 tally rose to 1,10,129 on Monday night with the addition of 1,033 new cases in a single day; the number of fatalities went up by 39 to 6,129.

Despite a fall in the number of fresh cases across India in the last 24 hours ending this morning, at least eight Indian states, including Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka and Punjab, reportedthe highest surge in a single day.

At the same time, Maharashtra's tally rose by 7,924 to 3,83,723 on Monday night and fatalities rose by 227 to 13,883.

Caseload breached the one lakh mark in Karnataka with the biggest single day spike of 5,324 new infections.

The central Indian state of Chhattisgarh extended the ongoing lockdown in its coronavirus-hit areas, including capital city Raipur, Bilaspur and Durg, till August 6.

Tamil Nadu reported 6,993 fresh cases, the highest single day increase, taking the tally to 2,20,716, while 77 fatalities pushed the death toll to 3,571.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Monday that India is in a much better position than other countries in the fight against the pandemic as a result of "right decisions taken at the right time."

He said the country has expanded its health infrastructure at a rapid pace to deal with the pandemic.

Speaking after virtually launching Covid-19 testing facilities in three cities, Modi said the deaths from the contagion in India are much lower than many big countries and India's recovery rate is also higher and improving on a daily basis.