Active cases in India shot past 20,000 and now stands at 20,117. There are also 77 foreign nationals who are affected by the virus, the ministry said.

Apart from that, 5,913 patients who were infected with Covid-19, have been discharged or cured of the virus while one has migrated from the country.

Further, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today addressed the nation via the monthly radio programme ‘Mann Ki Baat’ amid nationwide lockdown. Terming the combat against Covid-19 fight in India as people driven, Modi strongly urged citizens to stay away from the assumption that the virus will not reach their state, cities, and colonies.

The radio programme came just a day before the prime minister is set to conduct a video conference with chief ministers to discuss the steps required to stem the spread of the deadly virus. In this context, the second phase of the nationwide lockdown is scheduled to end on 3 May, 2020.

Modi also mentioned how India’s helping other countries by sending consignments of life-saving drugs as gifts amid the Covid-19 crisis.

Meanwhile, Maharashtra remained the worst hit state with total number of positive cases rising to 7,628, followed by Gujarat at 3,071 cases, Delhi at 2,625 cases and Rajasthan at 2,083 cases, according to the data.

The most-affected states according to the deaths recorded are Maharashtra (323), Delhi (54), Gujarat (133), Madhya Pradesh (99), Telangana (26), Andhra Pradesh (31), Uttar Pradesh (29), Punjab (17), Karnataka (18), Tamil Nadu (20), Rajasthan (33), West Bengal (18), Jammu and Kashmir (5), Kerala (4), Jharkhand (3), Haryana (3) and Bihar (2). Meghalaya, Odisha, Assam, Himachal Pradesh and have reported one death each.

However, on a positive note, all coronavirus cases in Tripura, Goa and Manipur are now negative, informed respective state officials. Moreover, the health ministry added that Covid-19 growth has declined in Odisha and Kerala.

Here is total coronavirus cases in India, state-wise:

Andaman and Nicobar Islands – 33

Andhra Pradesh – 1097

Arunachal Pradesh – 1

Assam – 36

Bihar – 251

Chandigarh – 30

Chhattisgarh – 37

Delhi -2625

Goa – 7

Gujarat – 3071

Haryana – 289

Himachal Pradesh – 40

Jammu and Kashmir – 494

Jharkhand – 67

Karnataka – 501

Kerala – 458

Ladakh – 20

Madhya Pradesh – 2096

Maharashtra – 7628

Manipur – 2

Meghalaya – 12

Mizoram – 1

Odisha – 103

Puducherry – 7

Punjab – 298

Rajasthan – 2083

Tamil Nadu – 1821

Telangana -991

Tripura – 2

Uttarakhand – 50

Uttar Pradesh – 1843

West Bengal – 611

Out of these cases, 312 cases are being assigned to states for contact tracing.

Globally, death toll due to the novel coronavirus shot past 200,000 while the number of positive cases surpassed 2.9 million, according to the latest data from Johns Hopkins University.

The United States recorded 2,494 more coronavirus deaths in the past 24 hours, taking the overall death toll to 53,511, with 936,293 confirmed infections, according to a tally by the Baltimore-based university.

The United Nations launched an international push for a vaccine to defeat the pandemic as governments around the world are struggling to limit the economic devastation unleashed by the virus and left half of humanity under some form of lockdown.