A record single-day increase of 97,894 infections pushed India’s COVID-19 tally to over 51 lakh, while the number of people who have recuperated from the disease crossed 40 lakh on Thursday, according to the Union Health Ministry data. The total coronavirus cases mounted to 51,18,253, while the death toll climbed to 83,198 with the virus claiming 1,132 lives in a span of 24 hours, the data updated at 8 am showed. The total recoveries surged to 40,25,079 while the active cases of COVID-19 crossed 10 lakh for the first time. The COVID-19 case fatality rate due to the coronavirus infection was recorded at 1.63 per cent. There are 10,09,976 active cases of COVID-19 in the country which comprises 19.73 per cent of the total caseload, the data stated. India”s COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 30 lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on September 5 and and it went past 50 lakh on September 16. According to the ICMR, a cumulative total of 6,05,65,728 samples have been tested up to September 16 with 11,36,613 samples being tested on Wednesday. The 1,132 new deaths reported in a day include 474 from Maharashtra, 86 from Uttar Pradesh, 78 from Punjab, 64 from Andhra Pradesh, 61 from West Bengal, 57 from Tamil Nadu , 55 from Karnataka and 33 from Delhi. A total of 83,198 deaths have been reported so far in the country including 30,883 from Maharashtra followed by 8,559 from Tamil Nadu, 7,536 from Karnataka, 5,105 from Andhra Pradesh, 4,839 from Delhi, 4,690 from Uttar Pradesh, 4,123 from West Bengal, 3,256 from Gujarat, 2,592 from Punjab and 1,844 from Madhya Pradesh. The health ministry stressed that more than 70 per cent of the deaths occurred due to comorbidities. “Our figures are being reconciled with the Indian Council of Medical Research,” the ministry said on its website, adding that state-wise distribution of figures is subject to further verification and reconciliation.
