India's COVID-19 tally crosses 38 lakh with record spike of 83,883 cases

India's COVID-19 tally raced past 38 lakh on Thursday with the sharpest single-day spike of 83,883 fresh cases, while the number of recoveries surged to 29,70,492, pushing the recovery rate to over 77 per cent, Union health ministry data showed.

The total number of coronavirus cases in the country mounted to 38,53,406, while the death toll climbed to 67,376 as 1,043 people succumbed to the disease in a span of 24 hours, the data updated at 8 am showed.

The national COVID-19 recovery rate has risen to 77.09 per cent. The case fatality rate due to the infection has further declined to 1.75 per cent.

There are 8,15,538 active cases of coronavirus infection in the country which comprise 21.16 per cent of the total caseload, the data stated.

India's COVID-19 tally crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7 and went past 30 lakh on August 23.

According to the Indian Council of Medical Research, a cumulative total of 4,55,09,380 samples have been tested up to September 2, with 11,72,179 being tested on Wednesday -- the highest in a day so far.

Of the 1,043 fresh deaths, 292 are from Maharashtra, 113 from Karnataka, 106 from Punjab, 98 from Tamil Nadu, 74 from Uttar Pradesh, 72 from Andhra Pradesh, 56 from West Bengal, 27 from Madhya Pradesh, 25 from Bihar, 19 from Delhi, 15 each from Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir, 13 from Puducherry, 12 each from Chhattisgarh, Gujarat and Rajasthan.

Eleven fatalities each have been reported from Odisha and Uttarakhand; 10 each from Goa, Jharkhand and Telangana; eight each from Assam and Tripura; seven from Kerala; three from Himachal Pradesh; two from Chandigarh; and one each from Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Meghalaya.

Of the total 67,376 deaths, Maharashtra has reported the maximum at 25,195, followed by 7,516 in Tamil Nadu, 5,950 in Karnataka, 4,481 in Delhi, 4,125 in Andhra Pradesh, 3,616 in Uttar Pradesh, 3,339 in West Bengal, 3,046 in Gujarat, and 1,618 in Punjab.

So far, 1,453 people have died of COVID-19 in Madhya Pradesh, 1,081 in Rajasthan, 856 in Telangana, 732 in Jammu and Kashmir, 721 in Haryana, 646 in Bihar, 514 in Odisha, 438 in Jharkhand, 323 in Assam, 305 in Kerala, 299 in Chhattisgarh and 291 in Uttarakhand.

Puducherry has registered 253 fatalities, Goa 204, Tripura 126, Chandigarh 59, Andaman and Nicobar Islands 47, Himachal Pradesh 43, Ladakh 35, Manipur 29, Meghalaya 13, Nagaland nine, Arunachal Pradesh seven, Sikkim four and Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu two each.

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 on its website, adding that state-wise distribution of figures is subject to further verification and reconciliation.