India's coronavirus tally crosses 1.73 lakh-mark, 7,964 new cases on Friday

New Delhi : India registered 7,964 new coronavirus cases on Friday to take the total toll of confirmed cases to over 1.73 lakh till date, Union Health Ministry data showed.

This is the second consecutive day when India has seen more than 7000 cases in a day.

The number of people who have recovered from Covid-19 also went up as 82,369 patients were discharged from hospitals across the country, according to the health ministry’s dashboard at 8am.

With India's recovery rate jumping to 47% from 42.88%, the nation is set to face the end of lockdown 4 on Sunday.

Maharashtra has reported 62,228 Covid-19 cases, including 2098 deaths, so far. In Tamil Nadu, there have been 20,246 infections, including 154 deaths, and Delhi with 17,386 Covid-19 cases is the third worst-affected region in the country.

On Friday, Amit Shah and PM Modi held a meeting and spoke to a number of CMs to discuss future course for lockdown. The states have demanded an extension of lockdown for another two weeks.

News agency PTI quoted a government official as saying that Shah briefed Modi about the suggestions and the feedback he received from chief ministers on the road ahead.

The nationwide lockdown, with the first phase imposed on March 25 for 21 days, has been extended thrice. States can frame their own guidelines for the lockdown but they have been advised not to dilute the central rules.