India logs in 64,399 COVID-19 cases in single-day spike

India on Sunday (August 9) recorded a single-day spike of 64,399 COVID-19 cases, which took its total tally past the 21 lakh-mark. The death toll jumped to 43,379 with 861 more fatalities, the Health Ministry bulletin said.

The number of recoveries surged to 14,80,884 with record 53,879 more people recuperating in the past 24 hours, taking recovery rate to 68.78 per cent. The case fatality rate has dropped 2.01 per cent, according to the ministry data.

There are 6,28,747 active cases of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), comprising 29.20 per cent of the total caseload in the country. The total coronavirus cases have mounted to 21,53,010, including 43,379 deaths, it said.

This is the third consecutive day that the COVID-19 cases have increased by more than 60,000. India had crossed the 20-lakh mark on Friday.

As many as 7,19,364 samples were tested on Saturday, the highest in a day. A total of 2,41,06,535 samples have been tested so far, according to the Indian Council of Medical Research.

“India is performing around 500 tests for detection of COVID-19 per minute and the per-day testing capacity has increased over five lakhs,” scientist and ICMR media coordinator Lokesh Sharma said.

Of the 861 more deaths, 275 are from Maharashtra, 118 from Tamil Nadu, 97 from Andhra Pradesh and 93 from Karnataka.

Fifty-one more people died from the pathogen in West Bengal, 47 in Uttar Pradesh and 23 each in Punjab and Gujarat.

Delhi registered 16 more fatalities, followed by 15 in Madhya Pradesh, 13 in Bihar, 12 each in Telangana and Odisha, 11 in Rajasthan and 10 in Jammu and Kashmir.

Eight fatalities have been reported from Assam, seven from Haryana, five each from Puducherry and Uttarakhand, and four each from Jharkhand, Kerala and Tripura.

Two persons each succumbed to the contagion in Chhattisgarh and Goa, while Chandigarh, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Manipur and Meghalaya have registered a fatality each.

Of the total 43,379 deaths, Maharashtra has reported the maximum of 17,367, followed by 4,808 in Tamil Nadu, 4,098 in Delhi and 3,091 in Karnataka.

There have been 2,628 fatalities in Gujarat, 2,028 in Uttar Pradesh, 2,005 in West Bengal, 1,939 in Andhra Pradesh and 977 in Madhya Pradesh.

A total of 778 people have died in Rajasthan due to the pandemic, followed by 627 in Telangana, 562 in Punjab, 474 in Haryana and 459 in Jammu and Kashmir.

There have been 382 COVID-19 deaths in Bihar, 259 in Odisha, 155 in Jharkhand, 140 in Assam, 117 in Uttarakhand, 106 in Kerala.

Chhattisgarh has registered 89 deaths, followed by 80 in Puducherry, 72 in Goa, 41 in Tripura and 24 in Chandigarh.

Andaman and Nicobar Islands reported 20 deaths, Himachal Pradesh 14, Manipur 11, Ladakh nine and Nagaland seven.

There have been six coronavirus deaths in Meghalaya and three in Arunachal Pradesh, while Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu reported two and Sikkim one.

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, adding that state-wise distribution of figures was subject to further verification and reconciliation.