India's COVID-19 tally nears 37 lakh; recovery rate 76.94%

With 69,921 people testing positive for coronavirus infection on Tuesday, India's COVID-19 tally mounted to 36,91,166, while recoveries surged to 28,39,882, pushing the recovery rate to 76.94 per cent, according to Union Health Ministry data.

The death toll, meanwhile, climbed to 65,288 with 819 new fatalities being reported in a span of 24 hours, the data updated at 8 am showed.

The COVID-19 case fatality rate has declined further and now stands at 1.77 per cent.

There are 7,85,996 active cases which constitutes 21.29 per cent of the total caseload, the data stated.

India's COVID-19 tally had 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 4,33,24,834 samples have been tested up to August 31, 10,16,920 of them on Monday.

Of the 819 fresh deaths, 184 were reported from Maharashtra, 113 from Karnataka, 91 from Tamil Nadu, 85 from Andhra Pradesh, 63 from Uttar Pradesh, 52 from West Bengal, 49 from Punjab, 20 from Madhya Pradesh, 18 from Delhi, 14 from Gujarat, 13 from Rajasthan ,12 from Uttarakhand, and 10 each from Assam, Odisha and Tripura.

Nine fatalities each have been reported from Goa, Telangana and Jammu and Kashmir, eight from Chhattisgarh, seven each from Haryana, Jharkhand, Kerala and Puducherry, four each from Bihar and Chandigarh, three from Himachal Pradesh, while Andaman and Nicobar Islands has registered one fatality.

Of the total 65,228 deaths till date, Maharashtra has reported the maximum at 24,583, followed by 7,322 in Tamil Nadu, 5,702 in Karnataka, 4,444 in Delhi, 3,969 in Andhra Pradesh, 3,486 in Uttar Pradesh, 3,228 in West Bengal, 3,020 in Gujarat,and 1,453 in Punjab.

So far, 1,394 people have died of COVID-19 in Madhya Pradesh, 1,056 in Rajasthan, 836 in Telangana, 703 in Jammu and Kashmir, 689 in Haryana, 582 in Bihar, 492 in Odisha, 417 in Jharkhand, 306 in Assam, 294 in Kerala, 277 in Chhattisgarh and 269 in Uttarakhand.

Puducherry has registered 228 fatalities, Goa 192, Tripura 113, Chandigarh 56, Andaman and Nicobar Islands 46, Himachal Pradesh 38, Ladakh 34, Manipur 28, Meghalaya 10, Nagaland nine, Arunachal Pradesh seven, Sikkim three, and Dadra & 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 ICMR," the ministry said on its website, adding the state-wise distribution of figures is subject to further verification and reconciliation.

Maharashtra has reported the highest number of cases at 7,92,541 till date and has 1,94,399 active cases presently, followed by Andhra Pradesh with 4,34,771 total cases till now and 1,00,276 active cases presently, Karnataka with 3,42,423 total cases and 87,254 active cases, Uttar Pradesh with 2,30,414 total cases and 54,788 active cases and Tamil Nadu with 4,28,041 total cases and 52,578 active cases.

Telangana has so far reported 1,27,697 infections and has 31,699 active cases at present. Odisha has reported 1,03,536 cases and has 25,758 active cases while West Bengal has registered 1,62,778 total cases and has 25,280 active cases.

Bihar has reported 1,36,457 total COVID-19 cases and has 16,335 active cases of the infection currently, Gujarat has recorded 96,300 cases and has 15,524 active cases presently, Delhi has so far witnessed 1,74,748 infections and has 14,626 active cases as on date, Madhya Pradesh has registered 63,965 total cases and 13,914 active cases presently, and Rajasthan saw 81,693 cases so far and has 13,825 active cases at present.