New Delhi, April 16: The number of coronavirus (COVID-19) cases has reached 13,835, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said on Friday evening. Of these, 11,616 are active cases. The number of recovered or discharged patients increased to 1766, while the death toll now stands at 452. One patient had migrated to another country. At least 252 patients recovered in the past 24 hours, the latest data revealed. Coronavirus Tracker Live.

According to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, India has reported 1076 coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours, an increase from 826 that the country had seen on Thursday. The number of daily death toll also climbed to 32 from 26 that was reported yesterday. Maharashtra remained the worst-hit state with 3205 cases, including 194 deaths, followed by Delhi which has recorded 1640 cases so far. State-Wise List of 170 Coronavirus Hotspots in India.

Earlier today, the government said the nationwide lockdown, which has been extended till May 3, helped to reduce the doubling rate of coronavirus cases in the country. "Before lockdown, the doubling rate of coronavirus cases was about three days, but according to data in the past 7 days, the doubling rate of cases now stands at 6.2 days," Lav Agarwal, Joint Secretary at the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, said.

Agarwal said the reduction in the doubling rate is the product of the management of the health crisis at the field level. He also added that the growth factor in the new cases has declined by 40 percent. The decline in the growth rate is concluded from the data from April 1 to mid-April, which recorded 1.2 percent growth rates, as compared to 2.1 percent from March 15 to March 30.

Agarwal also said that the ratio between recovered coronavirus patients and deaths stands at 80:20 in India. "It is higher than several other countries," he remarked. He also said the government focusing on developing a vaccine for coronavirus infection. "We are working on recombinant BCG, convalescent plasma therapy and monoclonal antibodies to fight COVID-19," he said.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 17, 2020 05:45 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).