India Covid situation, April 20: Cases cross 17,000 mark, 543 dead

India's coronavirus numbers rose by more than a thousand since the last official update to cross the 17,000 mark as of the morning hours today, latest data from Union Health Ministry showed.

As of 8 am today, the number of active cases was 14,175. As many as 2,546 people have been cured/discharged, while one patient has migrated. Cases include 77 foreign nationals.

The number of the dead so far is 543. Among the dead, the highest number (223 fatalities) was from Maharashtra, followed by Madhya Pradesh (70), Gujarat (63), Delhi (45) and Telengana (18).


The death toll reached 17 in Uttar Pradesh while Punjab and Karnataka reported 16 deaths each. Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh have reported 15 deaths each. Rajasthan has registered 14 fatalities, data collated by PTI shows.

A total of 4,01,586 samples from 3,83,985 individuals had been tested as of 9 pm of 19 April, the ICMR said in its daily update.

The new count comes amid preparations for a graded lifting of the lockdown that was put in place on Mar 25 and later extended till May 3. April 20 is the day slated for the beginning of a partial reopening of the economy.

Global numbers, meanwhile, have crossed the 2.4 million mark. More than 1.65 lakh people have died from the disease so far.