Record Spike of 69,652 COVID-19 Cases, India's Tally Crosses 28-Lakh Mark

New Delhi: India's COVID-19 caseload went past 28 lakh with a record single-day spike of 69,652 infections, while the recoveries increased to 20,96,664 on Thursday pushing the recovery rate to 73.91%, according to Union Health Ministry data.

The total cases of coronavirus infections mounted to 28,36,925, while the death toll climbed to 53,866 with 977 new fatalities being reported in a day, the data updated at 8 a.m showed.

Case fatality rate has declined to 1.90%.

There are 6,86,395 active cases of coronavirus infection in the country which is 24.20% of the total caseload, the data stated.

India's COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7.  

According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), a cumulative total of 3,26,61,252 samples have been tested up to August 19 with 9,18,470 samples being tested on Wednesday.

Of the 977 fresh deaths, 346 are from Maharashtra, 126 from Karnataka, 116 from Tamil Nadu, 86 from Andhra Pradesh, 53 each from Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal, 23 from Punjab, 18 from Madhya Pradesh, 17 from Gujarat, 15 from Jharkhand, 14 from Uttarakhand,  12 from Rajasthan and 11 each from Bihar and Jammu and Kashmir.

Ten fatalities each have been reported from Assam, Haryana, Odisha and Telangana, nine from Delhi, eight from Goa, seven from Kerala, six from Puducherry, three from Chhattisgarh while Sikkim, Chandigarh and Ladakh have registered one fatality each.

Of the total 53,866 deaths, Maharashtra has reported the maximum at 21,033, followed by 6,123 in Tamil Nadu, 4,327 in Karnataka, 4,235 in Delhi, 2,906 in Andhra Pradesh, 2,837 in Gujarat, 2,638 in Uttar Pradesh, 2,581 in West Bengal and 1,159 in Madhya Pradesh.

So far, 921 people have died of COVID-19 each in Punjab, 910 in Rajasthan, 729 in Telangana, 572 in Jammu and Kashmir, 567 in Haryana, 487 in Bihar, 372 in Odisha, 277 in Jharkhand, 213 in Assam, 182 in Kerala and 178 in Uttarakhand.

Chhattisgarh has registered 161 deaths, Puducherry 129, Goa 124, Tripura 65, Chandigarh 31, Andaman and Nicobar Islands 30, Himachal Pradesh 19, Manipur and Ladakh 18 each, Nagaland eight, Meghalaya six, Arunachal Pradesh five, Sikkim three and Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu  two. 

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 is subject to further verification and reconciliation.