Mumbai, In the ongoing corona pandemic, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's home-state Gujarat has earned the dubious distinction of notching the highest mortality rate while Kerala down south has the lowest, though Maharashtra leads both in terms of the maximum deaths due to Covid-19 and positive cases, according to official data released here on Thursday.

Till April 8, Maharashtra recorded 74 deaths and 1,135 corona patients, giving a mortality rate of 6.34 per cent, the third highest in India, as per the figures released by the state Medical Education & Drugs Department (MEDD).

Gujarat with 179 patients, has recorded 16 deaths with a mortality rate of 8.94 per cent, while Punjab ranks second with 101 cases and 8 deaths giving a mortality rate of 7.92 per cent.

Surprisingly, Kerala -- with 345 cases -- managed to arrest the death figure to only 2 -- or a mortality rate of 0.57 per cent.

Next in the high mortality list is Madhya Pradesh with 229 cases and 13 deaths and the fourth highest mortality rate of 5.68 per cent.

Himachal Pradesh with just 18 positive cases and 1 death notched a mortality rate of 5.55 per cent followed by West Bengal with 103 cases and five deaths with a mortality rate of 4.85 per cent.

The other big surprises in the study are Tamil Nadu and Delhi, both major corona hotspot states after Maharashtra in terms of the high number of infectees.

With 738 cases, Tamil Nadu has reined in the deaths to just 8, at a mortality rate of 1.08 and Delhi with 669 cases and 9 deaths notched a mortality rate of 1.34 per cent.

The Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir has fared reasonably well with 158 cases and 4 deaths, achieving a mortality rate of 2.53 per cent.

Karnataka, with 181 cases -- considerably higher number compared to West Bengal, but an equal number of 5 deaths -- has notched a lower mortality rate at 2.76 per cent.

Bihar and Odisha stand quite close to each other. While Bihar has 38 cases and one death with a mortality rate of 2.63, Odisha has 42 cases with one death and a mortality rate of 2.38 per cent.

Similarly, Rajasthan is comparable to Kerala on the lowest rungs. Despite 381 cases and 3 deaths, the desert state has notched a mortality rate of 0.78 percent, the second lowest in the country after Kerala.

Other states that have done well on this front are Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh.

Haryana has 147 cases but 3 deaths or a mortality rate of 2.04 per cent, Telangana recorded 427 cases but 7 deaths and a mortality rate of 1.63 per cent, Andhra Pradesh has 348 cases and 4 deaths with a mortality rate of 1.14 percent, while UP notched 361 cases and 4 deaths, giving a mortality rate of 1.10 per cent.

In another remarkable development, the entire northeastern states have recorded 32 cases -- Assam 28, and one each in Manipur, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh and Tripura -- with zero deaths to date.

Among other states, Uttarakhand with 33 cases, Chandigarh with 18, Union Territory of Ladakh with 14, Andabar & Nicobar Islands with 11, Chhattisgarh with 10, Goa with 7, Puducherry with 5, Jharkhand with 4 cases will need to watch out.