COVID cases cross 37-lakh mark in India; recovery rate increases to 77%

India crossed the 37-lakh mark in COVID-19 cases as the country reported 44,302 fresh cases as of 8.00 pm on Tuesday (September 1). The total number of cases increased to 37,32,242, while the death toll rose to 65,905 with 472 new fatalities. The recovery rate has increased to 77 per cent with total recoveries of 28,71,551.

Five states — Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh — have accounted for over half of the total COVID-19 cases and close to 60 per cent of the recoveries reported in the last 24 hours. Cumulatively, these five states reported 536 deaths in a day which is over 65 per cent of the total fatalities.

India’s cumulative tests for detection of COVID-19 have crossed 4.3 crore so far, of which 1.22 crore were conducted in the last two weeks, the Union Health Ministry said. Three states — Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra — account for nearly 34 per cent of the total tests, the ministry said.

Andhra Pradesh witnessed 10,368 fresh cases as its tally reached 4,45,139. While 9,350 people got cured of COVID, 84 more succumbed to the disease, increasing the death toll to 4,053. The number of recoveries mounted to 3,39,876. The COVID-19 case recovery rate in the state now stands at 76.35 per cent.

Tamil Nadu reported 5,928 new COVID cases pushing the tally to 4,33,969, while the death toll stood at 7,418 with 96 more fatalities. With 6,031 recoveries, the active cases stood at 52,379 and in total 3,74,172 people have got cured, a health department bulletin said. Of the 5,928 new infections, Chennai accounted for 1,084.

Karnataka reported a sharp spike of 9,058 new COVID-19 cases and 135 related fatalities, taking the total number of infections to 3,51,481 and the death toll to 5,837. The day also saw 5,159 patients getting discharged. Of the 9,058 fresh cases reported today, 2,967 cases were from Bengaluru Urban alone.

Delhi recorded 2,312 fresh COVID-19 cases, the highest single-day spike here in around two months, taking the tally to over 1.77 lakh, while the death toll mounted to 4462 As many as 18 fatalities have been recorded in the last 24 hours. The number of active cases in the city rose to 15,879 on Tuesday from 14,626 the previous day.

A sero-prevalence survey in Delhi did not find antibodies against the novel coronavirus in the blood of 97 out of 208 people who had previously tested positive for COVID-19, with the National Centre for Disease Control saying it indicates that immune response generated by the virus could be “transient in nature”.

Meanwhile, the national capital’s next round of monthly sero-prevalence survey began on Tuesday covering all 272 municipal wards to analyse the COVID-19 situation in Delhi at “micro-level”, Health Minister Satyendar Jain said. The sample size this time will be 17,000 and the exercise will continue for seven days, he said.

As many as 56 people died of coronavirus in Uttar Pradesh, raising the toll to 3,542, while 5,571 fresh cases pushed the states infection count to 2,35,757. The number of active cases stands at 55,538. As many as 1,76,677 patients have cured of COVID-19 in the state and the recovery rate of the state is around 75 per cent.

Gujarat reported its highest single-day spike of 1,310 coronavirus infections on Tuesday which raised the tally of cases in the state to 97,745. With 14 new fatalities, the death toll due to the pandemic rose to 3,036. As many as 1,131 patients were discharged from hospitals and the number of recovered patients rose to 78,913.

Jammu and Kashmir recorded 14 more COVID-19 fatalities, taking the death toll to 717, while 525 new cases pushed the infection tally in the Union territory to 38,223. A total of 241 new cases of the infection were detected in the Jammu region and 284 were from the Kashmir Valley. There are 8,022 active cases of the disease in the UT.

Widespread mask use and data-driven social distancing measures in India may help prevent over 200,000 COVID-related deaths in the country by December 1, said a study by Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington. It, however, said the disease would continue to pose a major public health threat in the country.