COVID cases in India cross 29-lakh mark; recovery rate increases to 74%

India crossed the 29-lakh mark in COVID-19 cases as the country reported 65,145 fresh cases as of 9.30 pm on Thursday (August 20). The total number of coronavirus cases increased to 29,00,967, while the death toll rose to 54,948 with 954 new fatalities. The recovery rate has increased to 74.22 per cent.

Maharashtra reported its highest single-day spike of 14,492 coronavirus cases, which pushed its overall count to 6,43,289. The death of 326 patients increased the toll to 21,359. A total of 12,243 patients were discharged on Thursday. With this, 4,59,124 COVID-19 patients have been recovered from the disease so far.

COVID-19 recoveries crossed the three lakh mark in Tamil Nadu with 5,742 people getting discharged, increasing the total recoveries to 3,01,913. With 5,986 more testing positive for the virus, the aggregate rose to 3.61 lakh, while 116 more deaths pushed the toll to 6,239. The active cases, including those in isolation, stood at 53,283.

Belying the expectations of the health authorities, the COVID-19 graph of Andhra Pradesh continued its explosive spree as 9,393 more cases were added to push the overall tally further up to 3.25 lakh. After Maharashtra, AP is the only state reporting a large number of COVID-19 cases daily, sometimes close to 10,000, over the past few days.

Karnataka on Thursday reported 7,385 new cases of COVID-19 and 102 related fatalities, taking the total number of infections to 2,56,975 and the death toll to 4,429. The day also saw 6,231 patients getting discharged after recovery. Out of 7,385 fresh cases reported on Thursday, 2,912 cases were from Bengaluru urban alone.

The national capital recorded 1,215 fresh coronavirus cases, taking the tally to 1.57 lakh, while the death toll from the disease mounted to 4,257. Twenty-two fatalities have been recorded in the last 24 hours. This is the highest number of deaths since August 7, when the city recorded 23 fatalities, according to the data.

Uttar Pradesh registered a record 95 deaths due to COVID-19, taking the total fatalities in the state to 2,733. With 4,991 fresh COVID-19 cases, the state’s tally climbed to 1,72,334. The state presently has 48,511 COVID-19 cases while the number of those recovering and getting discharged from hospitals reached 1,21,090.

West Bengal’s COVID-19 caseload mounted to 1,29,119 with the highest single-day spike of 3,197 infections. The death toll in the state rose to 2,634 after 53 people succumbed to the virus since Wednesday, it said. A total of 3,126 patients recovered from the disease during the period, bettering the discharge rate to 76.51 per cent.

Kerala logged 1,968 fresh COVID-19 cases, including 48 health workers, and nine related deaths, taking the infection count in the state to 52,199 so far. As many as 1,737 were infected through contact and the source of infection of 100 people was not yet known. Forty-eight health workers were among those infected.

The COVID-19 death toll in Bihar rose to 574 with six fatalities in the past 24 hours, while 2,451 fresh infections took the states coronavirus count to 1,15,209. As many as 3,585 patients also recovered from the disease since Wednesday, raising the number of recoveries to 88,163 and recovery rate to 76.52 per cent.