COVID cases in India cross 18-lakh mark; recovery rate increases to 65.7%

India crossed the 18-lakh mark in COVID-19 cases as the country reported 49,847 fresh cases, as of 9.30 pm on Sunday (August 02). The total number of coronavirus cases increased to 18,02,018, while the death toll rose to 38,063 with 658 new fatalities. Nearly 2 crore samples have been tested across the country.

With the addition on 9,509 cases, Maharashtras COVID-19 tally reached 4,41,228 on Sunday. With 260 people succumbing to the infection during the day, the number of victims went up to 15,576, he said. A total of 9,926 patients were discharged in the day, taking the count of the recovered cases in the state to 2,76,809.

In a continuing surge, 8,555 fresh cases were added to Andhra Pradesh’s COVID-19 tally, taking it to 1.58 lakh. The toll mounted to 1,474 as 67 new casualties were reported in the last 24 hours while 6,272 more coronavirus patients recovered. The state now has 74,404 active cases after a total of 82,886 patients had recovered.

Tamil Nadu recorded 5,875 new COVID-19 cases aggregating to 2.57 lakh till date, while 98 more people succumbed to the virus. The number of those discharged on Sunday stood at 5,517 with cumulative recoveries leading to 1.96 lakh so far. Active cases in Tamil Nadu were 56,998. Chennai registered 1,065 fresh cases taking the tally to 1.01 lakh cases.

Karnataka clocked 5,532 fresh COVID-19 cases while 84 people died of the virus, pushing the tally of confirmed cases in the state to 1.34 lakh on Sunday. On Sunday, 4,077 people were discharged, taking the total discharges to 57,725 whereas there were 74,590 active cases including 638 in the ICU.

The death toll due to COVID-19 in West Bengal rose to 1,678 on Sunday with record one-day jump of 49 fatalities, the health department said. The state also reported the highest single-day spike of 2,739 fresh cases, which pushed the tally to 75,516, the department said. Of the 49 fatalities, 20 were registered in Kolkata.

Delhi registered 15 deaths due to the novel coronavirus in the last 24 hours, the lowest number of fatalities in a single day since July 1. The number of coronavirus cases in Delhi rose to 1,37,677, while the death toll mounted to 4,004 on Sunday. On July 26, there were 21 deaths due to the pathogen, the previous lowest fatality count since July 1.

The number of COVID-19 cases in Gujarat spiked by 1,101 to 63,575 on Sunday. With 22 more patients succumbing to the infection, the toll rose to 2,487, it said. A total of 805 patients were discharged in the day, taking the number of recovered cases to 46,587, a release said. The state is now left with 14,601 active cases.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah (55) has tested positive for COVID-19 and said he was being admitted to a hospital following the advice of doctors. He tweeted, “On getting the initial symptoms of corona, I got the test done and the report came back positive. My health is fine, but I am being admitted to the hospital on the advice of doctors.”

Also, Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit has tested positive for COVID-19, but advised home isolation since his infection was mild, a city-based private hospital said on Sunday. The 80-year old Purohit was on self-isolation since July 29 after three people in the Raj Bhavan tested positive for the coronavirus.

The chief of Uttar Pradesh’s BJP unit, Swatantra Dev Singh, has tested positive for COVID and has quarantined himself at his home as per doctors advice. “I had been experiencing initial symptoms of COVID-19 and underwent a test for it. I was found positive for COVID-19, said Singh in a tweet on Sunday.

Megastar Amitabh Bachchan on Sunday said that he has tested negative for COVID-19 and will now be quarantined at home. The 77-year-old actor, who was admitted to Nanavati hospital along with son Abhishek after testing positive for COVID-19 on July 11, expressed his gratitude to well-wishers for their continued support and prayers.