According to the Union health ministry on Friday, India reported 63,371 fresh Covid-19 cases and 895 deaths in the past 24 hours, taking the tally up to 7,370,468. The cases have been rising by more than 100,000 since the beginning of October. As per official data, since October 12, India has been reporting around 66,000 new Covid-19 cases every day and 55,342 infections were reported on October 13. Deaths have also been fewer with 816 on October 12 and 680 casualties on Thursday. The number of deaths has remained below the 1,000 marks in the last 17 days.
The health ministry said on Friday that the country continues to have one of the lowest deaths per million population due to coronavirus disease compared to other countries across the world. It also mentioned that at least 22 states and Union territories have lower deaths per million population than the national average, which is currently at 80. “Some States/UTs are performing better and reporting much lower deaths/million population than the national average.”
India currently has 804,528 active cases of COVID-19 and the death toll in the country has increased to 112,161, the health ministry’s data shows. There have been 6,453,779 recoveries so far with 70,338 people cured of the infection in the last 24 hours. The national recovery rate is 87.56%.
The health ministry said on Thursday, “India is reporting a progressively high increase in the recoveries and a persistent decline in the percentage of active cases. As a result, the doubling time of the infection has sharply improved. It is now almost 73 days (72.8 days). This indicates a substantial fall in the daily new cases and the consequent increase in time taken to double the Total Cases.” It said such results have been possible because, “collaborative action by States/UTs under the Centre’s strategy of comprehensive and high countrywide testing, prompt and effective surveillance and tracking, quick hospitalization and effective adherence of the Standard Treatment Protocol issued by the Union Government.”
COVID-19 latest developments:
# Chhattisgarh's Covid-19 count rose to 153,515 on Thursday after 2,819 more people tested positive for the infection, while the number of recoveries increased to 1,23,943, an official said. Forty-six more deaths were recorded in the state, taking the death toll to 1,385 and 28,187 active cases in the state.
# Andaman and Nicobar Islands COVID-19 tally has risen to 4,062 after 16 more people tested positive for the infection. The Union Territory now has 190 active COVID-19 cases with 55 patients having succumbed to the infection so far.
# Telangana has registered 1,554 new COVID-19 cases, pushing the state's tally to 2.19 lakh, while seven more deaths increased the toll to 1,256. The case fatality rate in the state stands at 0.57 per cent.
# ICMR, the Indian Council of Medical Research has said that 9,22,54,927 samples were tested for COVID-19 in the country till yesterday (October 15). Of these, 10,28,622 were tested yesterday.
# India’s 5 worst-affected states, according to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. (includes recoveries, deaths and active cases)
- Maharashtra: 15,64,615
- Andhra Pradesh: 7,71,503
- Karnataka: 7,43,848
- Tamil Nadu: 6,74,802
- Uttar Pradesh: 4,47,383
Also Read: Coronavirus Updates: With 67,708 new cases, India’s covid tally breaches 73-lakh mark
# With 9 more fatalities, Assam reported 843 deaths by far. The state’s COVID-19 tally climbed to 1.98 lakh with 769 new cases.
# Sikkim reported 41 new COVID- 19 cases yesterday, taking the state's tally to 3,500 with 59 fatalities so far.
# Gir National park and sanctuary in Gujarat re-opens for tourists with Covid-19 protocols.