Record spike of 97,570 infections pushes India's COVID caseload to 46,59,984

India's COVID-19 caseload raced past 46 lakh with a record 97,570 infections being reported in a day, while 36,24,196 people have recuperated so far taking the national recovery rate to 77.77 per cent on Saturday, according to Union health ministry data.

The total number of coronavirus cases has mounted to 46,59,984, while the death toll climbed to 77,472 with 1,201 people succumbing to the infection in a span of 24 hours, the data updated at 8 am showed.

The COVID-19 case fatality rate due to the coronavirus infection has further dropped to 1.66 per cent.

There are 9,58,316 active cases of COVID-19 in the country which comprises 20.56 per cent of the total caseload, the data stated.

India's COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 30 lakh on August 23 and it went past 40 lakh on September 5.

The country has registered over 95,000 cases for the third consecutive day.

According to the Indian Council of Medical Research, a cumulative total of 5,51,89,226 samples have been tested up to September 11 with 10,91,251 samples being tested on Friday.

Of the 1,201 new deaths, 442 were reported from Maharashtra, 130 from Karnataka, 77 each from Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, 76 from Uttar Pradesh, 63 from Punjab, 57 from West Bengal, 30 from Madhya Pradesh, 26 from Chhattisgarh, 25 from Haryana, 21 from Delhi, 16 each from Assam and Gujarat, 15 each from Jharkhand and Rajasthan and 14 each from Kerala and Odisha.

Twelve fatalities each have been reported from Bihar and Puducherry, 11 from Uttarakhand, 10 from Telangana, nine each from Jammu and Kashmir and Tripura, eight from Goa, five from Himachal Pradesh, four from Meghalaya, three from Chandigarh, two from Ladakh while Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim have registered one fatality each.

Of the total 77,472 deaths, Maharashtra has reported the highest at 28,724 followed by 8,231 in Tamil Nadu, 7,067 in Karnataka, 4,779 in Andhra Pradesh, 4,687 in Delhi, 4,282 in Uttar Pradesh, 3,828 in West Bengal, 3,180 in Gujarat and 2,212 in Punjab.

So far, 1,691 people have died of COVID-19 in Madhya Pradesh, 1,207 in Rajasthan, 950 in Telangana, 932 in Haryana, 854 in Jammu and Kashmir, 797 in Bihar, 605 in Odisha, 532 in Jharkhand, 519 in Chhattisgarh, 430 in Assam, 410 in Kerala and 388 in Uttarakhand.

Puducherry has registered 365 fatalities, Goa 276, Tripura 182, Chandigarh 86, Himachal Pradesh 71, Andaman and Nicobar Islands 51, Manipur 44, Ladakh 38, Meghalaya 24, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh 10 each, Sikkim eight 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 co-morbidities.

"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.