Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday hailed the mega exercise which included fly-pasts over many cities and towns and showering of petals by military choppers on leading hospitals to pay gratitude to the front-line workers engaged in the battle against COVID-19.

COMMERCIAL BREAK
SCROLL TO CONTINUE READING

"Saluting those who are at the forefront, bravely fighting COVID-19. Great gesture by our armed forces," Modi tweeted. The prime minister also posted a short video of military aircraft, choppers and bands engaged in expressing gratitude to the health professionals and others.

Fighter jets and transport aircraft of the Indian Air Force on Sunday carried out fly-pasts over major cities and towns, while military choppers showered petals on leading hospitals across the country as part of a mega exercise to express gratitude to lakhs of doctors, paramedics and other front-line workers battling the coronavirus pandemic.

Meanwhile, the death toll due to COVID-19 rose to 1,301 and the number of cases climbed to 39,980 in the country on Sunday, according to the Union health ministry. The number of active COVID-19 cases stood at 28,046, while 10,632 people have recovered and one patient has migrated, the ministry said.
The total number of cases include 111 foreign nationals.

A total of 78 deaths were reported since Saturday evening, of which 36 fatalities were reported from Maharashtra, 26 from Gujarat, six from Madhya Pradesh, three from Rajasthan, three from Delhi, two from Telangana and one each from Tamil Nadu and Bihar.

Of the 1,301 deaths, Maharashtra accounts for the maximum with 521 fatalities, followed by Gujarat (262), Madhya Pradesh (151), Rajasthan (65), Delhi (64), Uttar Pradesh (43) and West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh at 33 each.

The death toll reached 29 in Tamil Nadu, 28 in Telangana, while Karnataka has reported 25 fatalities due to the disease.

Punjab has registered 20 COVID-19 deaths, Jammu and Kashmir eight, Kerala, Bihar and Haryana have reported four deaths each. Jharkhand has recorded three COVID-19 deaths. Meghalaya, Himachal Pradesh, Odisha and Assam have reported a fatality each, according to the ministry data.