India's coronavirus tally surged to 4,10,461 infections this morning as it registered the steepest one-day jump of 15,413 new patients in the last 24 hours, the Union Health Ministry said this morning, hours after the country's COVID-19 count soared past the four lakh-mark. A total of 13,254 patients have died since the beginning of the pandemic. Of these, 306 people died in the last 24 hours.
The country now has the world's fourth highest number of COVID-19 cases, only behind the United States, Brazil and Russia.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday asked states to make full use of the expanded COVID-19 testing capacity and saving lives a top priority. PM Modi also called for fighting the stigma associated with coronavirus and that people should be assured there is no need to panic if somebody has contracted the infection as the number of recovered patients has also been rising. The COVID-19 recovery rate for the country currently stood at around 53 per cent.
Meanwhile, Remdesivir, the anti-viral drug that can potentially treat COVID-19, will be available in the Indian market by end of this month, sources have told NDTV. The Drug Controller General of India had recently approved Remdesivir for "restricted emergency use" on severely ill hospitalised coronavirus patients.
