
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), in its most recent update, placed the total number of cases in India at 7,529 and the death toll at 242.
The ministry said that 643 people have so far recovered from the infection.
"India's tally stands at 7,529. Out of these, 643 have recovered, and 242 have died," Lav Aggarwal, Joint Secretary, MoHFW, said in a press briefing on Saturday.
He added, "The lockdown and containment measures are important to fight COVID-19. Had it not been for these measures, we might have had 8.2 lakh cases by April 15."
Agarwal also said that the estimation was a result of the statistical analysis and is not an Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) study.
"It is a statistical rate of growth based analysis. It is not an ICMR study. Before the nationwide lockdown, the rate of growth in cases was 28.9 per cent," he said.