"The unsound analysis of the said article is based on the extrapolation of data without any epidemiological evidence," the ministry said, adding the studies used by the magazine to estimate the mortality are not validated tools for determining the death rate of any country or region.
Addressing a daily media briefing to give updates on the COVID-19 situation in the country, Joint Secretary in the Health Ministry Lav Agarwal said most of the Markaz event-related cases have been found in states with high burden of the disease, such as Tamil Nadu (84 per cent), Telengana (79 per cent), Delhi (63 per cent), Uttar Pradesh (59 per cent) and Andhra Pradesh (61 per cent).
Maharashtra remains the worst-affected state due to the virus with 35,058 cases, including 1,249 deaths. It is followed by Tamil Nadu (11,760) and Gujarat (11,745).
With the fresh cases, India's COVID-19 tally rose to 22.68 lakh, while the recoveries have surged to 15,83,489, pushing the recovery rate to 69.80 per cent.
The rate of unemployment was the highest in the urban areas, which constitute the most number of red zones due to the COVID-19 cases, at 29.22 per cent, as against 26.69 per cent for the rural areas.
India's COVID-19 recovery rate rose to 63.13 per cent on Wednesday with a record 28,472 patients recuperating from the disease in 24 hours, while the case fatality rate further dropped to 2.41 per cent, the Union health ministry said.
The death toll climbed to 20,160 as 467 more people succumbed to the disease.
This is the fourth consecutive day when COVID-19 cases have increased by more than 45,000.
The complaint seeking registration of a first information report on cheating, criminal conspiracy and other charges was filed in the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate Mukesh Kumar here on Tuesday by Tamanna Hashmi, who identifies himself as a social worker and is often in news for his numerous court complaints against politicians over various issues.
36 deaths have been reported since Friday evening -- 12 from Madhya Pradesh, 10 from Gujarat, seven from Maharashtra, four from Delhi and one each from Andhra Pradesh, Bihar and Jammu and Kashmir. Of the 488 deaths, Maharashtra tops the list with 201 fatalities, followed by Madhya Pradesh at 69, Gujarat at 48 and Delhi at 42 and Telangana at 18.
Gadchiroli, located over 900 km from Mumbai in the state's Vidarbha region and having a population of around 12 lakh, has not reported a single COVID-19 case yet. The authorities are mindful that if at all any COVID-19 case comes to light in the district, it will come from outside and hence, they have enhanced efforts and are closely monitoring migrant workers entering the territory.
The number of recoveries continued to surge with 2,13,830 patients cured so far, while there were 1,68,269 active cases, according to the updated official figures at 8 am.
The recovery rate among COVID-19 patients has risen to 66.31 per cent.
According to the Indian Council of Medical Research, a total of 92,97,749 samples were tested for COVID-19 up to July 2, with 2,41,576 of those tested on Thursday.
The number of active COVID-19 cases stood at 29,685, while 11,761 people have recovered and one patient has migrated, it said.
The winter session of Parliament normally starts from last week of November or first week of December.
SEWA International, a leading Indian-American non-profit organisation, has so far raised more than $250,000 for its COVID-19 relief efforts. It is using the money to buy personal protective equipment's, in particular facial masks and surgical masks, to donate free to the local law enforcement officials and hospitals in some of the hot spot areas like New York, who have run out of these essential items.
During the daily media briefing, Lav Agarwal, Joint Secretary, Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry, said that 16 districts in the country, which earlier had cases, have not reported any fresh cases for the last 28 days.
The death toll from the pathogen climbed to 95,542 with 1,039 more deaths. There are 9,62,640 active cases of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), comprising 15.85 per cent of the caseload, according to the ministry data.
India has placed orders for 786 million doses till date -- less than the probable need of 950 million doses, reports Abhishek Waghmare.
Of the 1,075 deaths, Maharashtra tops the tally with 432 fatalities, followed by Gujarat at 197, Madhya Pradesh at 130, Delhi at 56, Rajasthan at 51, Uttar Pradesh at 39 and Andhra Pradesh at 31.
Maharashtra remains the worst-affected state due to the virus with 33,053 cases, including 1,198 deaths. It is followed by Gujarat (11,379), Tamil Nadu (11,224) and Delhi (10,054).
As the number of COVID cases rise in Bihar, data indicates that the state is slowing down on testing. It is also relying more on the Rapid Antigen Test than the more accurate RT-PCR test.
'How do you apply indelible ink without coming into contact?' 'There have to be options for other activities like casting of vote where you press a button and that of the signature identifying oneself.' 'None of our procedures should lead to exposure to infections.'
Of the 137 new deaths, 63 were in Maharashtra, 29 in Gujarat, 14 each from Delhi and Uttar Pradesh, six from West Bengal, four from Tamil Nadu, two each from Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh, and one from Haryana.
Fifteen of his relatives who attended the wedding tested positive for the contagion and apparently infected others.
There has been a spike of 1,813 cases since Tuesday evening. The number of active COVID-19 cases stand at 22,982, while 7,796 people have recovered, and one patient has migrated, the health ministry said.
Registering a steady increase for the 42nd in a row, the active cases have increased to 21,57,538, comprising 13.82 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has dropped to 85.01 per cent.
The COVID-19 caseload zoomed to 5,08,953, while 384 fresh fatalities were recorded in the last 24 hours. The number of active cases stands at 1,97,387, while 2,95,880 people have recovered and one patient has migrated, according to the updated figure at 8 am.
These states and UTs are Maharashtra (seven districts/municipalities), Telangana (four), Tamil Nadu (seven), Rajasthan (five), Assam (six), Haryana (four), Gujarat (three), Karnataka (four), Uttarakhand (three), Madhya Pradesh (five), West Bengal (three), Delhi (three), Bihar (four), Uttar Pradesh (four), and Odisha (five).
'I set out really early because it gets very hot.' 'The soles of my feet burn by the time I have finished going house to house on foot.'
With 39,297 cases in total, Maharashtra remains the worst affected state in the country, followed by Tamil Nadu (13,191 cases), Gujarat (12,537 cases), and Delhi (11,088 cases).
Maharashtra is the worst affected state with 56,948 cases.
The party leaders and ministers also credited the victory in Bihar to the Modi government's success in navigating the country during the COVID-19 crisis.
This was the ninth day in a row that the COVID-19 tally increased by more than 50,000.
India has been reporting over 60,000 cases daily since August 7, barring August 11 when the country registered 53,601 new instances of the infection.
What do we know about India's devastating second wave, and can we assign responsibility for it?
India's tally is now at 2,97,535, while the death toll is at 8,498.
'If done well, the containment measures can help minimise the impact of the epidemic.'
According to the ministry's data updated in the evening, the highest number of confirmed cases in the country are from Maharashtra at 1,574, followed by Tamil Nadu at 911 and Delhi at 903.
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