New Delhi: The death toll due to COVID-19 rose to 4,531 and the number of cases climbed to 1,58,333 in the country, registering an increase of 194 deaths and 6,566 cases in the last 24 hours till 8 am, the Union Health Ministry said.

The number of active COVID-19 cases stand at 86,110 while 67,691 people have recovered and one patient has migrated, it said.

"Thus, around 42.75% patients have recovered so far," a senior health ministry official said.

Of the 194 deaths reported since Wednesday morning, 105 were in Maharashtra, 23 in Gujarat, 15 in Delhi, 12 in Uttar Pradesh, eight in Madhya Pradesh, six each in Tamil Nadu, Telangana and West Bengal, three each in Karnataka and Rajasthan, two each in Bihar and Jammu and Kashmir and one each in Andhra Pradesh, Haryana and Kerala.

According to the ministry’s data, Maharashtra has the highest number of confirmed cases in the country at 56,948, followed by Tamil Nadu (18,545), Delhi (15,257), Gujarat (15,195), Rajasthan (7,703), Madhya Pradesh (7,261) and Uttar Pradesh (6,991). The number of COVID-19 cases has gone up to 4,192 in West Bengal, 3,171 in Andhra Pradesh and 3,061 in Bihar, 2,418 in Karnataka, 2,139 in Punjab, 2,098 in Telangana, 1,921 in Jammu and Kashmir, 1,593 in Odisha and 1,381 in Haryana, while Kerala has recorded 1,004 cases.

Independent trackers are reporting a slightly higher death toll than the health ministry. According to Worldometer, India has 1,58,333 confirmed cases and that 4,534 people have died because of COVID-19.

Global numbers

Globally, the total number of confirmed has crossed 5.5 million. Across the world, there have now been 5,695,155 confirmed cases around the world as of Thursday morning.

According to the Johns Hopkins University, the global death toll due to COVID-19 stands at 3,55,688.

In many countries, official data includes only deaths reported in hospitals, not those in homes or nursing homes.

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The US has recorded 1,699,933 confirmed cases of COVID-19, the respiratory illness caused by the coronavirus. Brazil is in second place with 411,821 cases, followed by Russia (370,680) and the UK (268,619).

The US has also recorded the highest death toll, which has now crossed 1 lakh. The country has reported 100,442 fatalities so far. The death toll has also been high in the UK (37,542), Italy (33,072), France (28,599), Spain (27,117) and Brazil (25,598).

Coronavirus pandemic may push 86 mn more children into household poverty by 2020-end: Report

The number of children living in poor households across low and middle-income countries could increase by 86 million to reach 672 million by the end of 2020 due to the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic, according to a new study.

The deadly virus has so far infected 5,695,290 people and claimed 355,692 lives globally, according to a tally by the Johns Hopkins University.

"The economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic could push up to 86 million more children into household poverty by the end of 2020, an increase of 15 per cent," said the study conducted jointly by the UNICEF and humanitarian organisation Save the Children.

The analysis highlighted that without urgent action to protect families from the financial hardships caused by the pandemic, the total number of children living below the national poverty line in low and middle-income countries could reach 672 million by year-end.

Moderna extends lipids deal to boost COVID-19 vaccine output

Moderna Inc has extended a deal to secure large volumes of the lipids used to produce its experimental COVID-19 vaccine in a bid to meet increasing demand for the medicine, the US biotech company said on Thursday.

Moderna said last week that the vaccine candidate, the first to be tested in the United States, produced protective antibodies in a small group of healthy volunteers, offering a glimmer of hope for a vaccine among the most advanced in development.

The expanded agreement with pharmaceutical ingredient supplier CordenPharma will be effective immediately to help meet its increasing demand over the coming months, Moderna said in a statement.

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"This expansion will increase supply of lipid excipients used to manufacture our mRNA products," Moderna's chief technical operations and quality officer, Juan Andres, said.

Moderna plans to supply millions of doses per month in 2020 and tens of millions a month in 2021 if the vaccine proves successful.

There are currently no approved treatments or vaccines for COVID-19, and experts predict a safe and effective vaccine could take 12 to 18 months from the start of development, which in Moderna's case was in January.

(With agency inputs)

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