COVID-19: India’s active cases lowest after 5 months; Maha accounts for highest deaths

India, on August 22, Sunday, registered 30,948 new cases of Coronavirus while 403 people have lost their lives due to the deadly virus. With this, the total tally of COVID-19 cases has gone up to 3,24,24,234 while the death toll has climbed to 4,34,367. According to the Union Health Ministry, the active cases declined to 3,53,398 comprising 1.09 per cent of the total infections. The ministry said that the national COVID-19 recovery rate has increased to 97.57 per cent, the highest since March 2020. According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), the total number of samples tested up to August 21 is 50,62,56,239 including 15,85,681 samples that were tested yesterday.

India had recorded 1 crore COVID cases within 50 days: MoHFW

The daily positivity rate was recorded at 1.95 per cent. It has been less than 3 per cent for the last 27 days. The weekly positivity rate was recorded at 2 per cent. It has been below 3 per cent for the last 58 days. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 3,16,36,469, while the case fatality rate stands at 1.34 per cent, MoHFW data stated.

 It is worth mentioning that the country had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 2020, 30 lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on September 5 and 50 lakh on September 16. It went past 60 lakh on September 28, 70 lakh on October 11, crossed 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20 and surpassed the one-crore mark on December 19. India crossed the grim milestone of two crores on May 4 and three crores on June 23.

About one-fourth of deaths recorded in Maharashtra

The 403 new fatalities include 145 from Maharashtra and 83 from Kerala. A total of 4,34,367 deaths have been reported so far in the country including 1,35,817 from Maharashtra, 37,123 from Karnataka, 34,686 from Tamil Nadu, 25,079 from Delhi, 22,792 from Uttar Pradesh, 19,428 from Kerala and 18,356 from West Bengal. The 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. So far, 58,14,89,377 vaccine doses have been administered across India, with 52,23,612 doses being administered in the last 24 hours

(With inputs from ANI)

(Image Credit: Pixabay)