India records 60,975 fresh COVID-19 cases, 848 deaths

With 60,975 people testing positive for coronavirus infection in a day, India's COVID-19 tally rose to 31,67,323, while recoveries surged to 24,04,585 pushing the recovery rate to 75.92 per cent, according to the Union health ministry data.

The death toll climbed to 58,390 with 848 fatalities being reported in a span of 24-hours, the data updated at 8 am showed.

The COVID-19 case fatality rate has declined to 1.84 per cent.

There are 7,04,348 active cases of coronavirus infection in the country which comprises 22.24 per cent 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, a cumulative total of 3,68,27,520 samples have been tested up to August 24 with 9,25,383 samples being tested on Monday.

Of the 848 fresh deaths, 212 are from Maharashtra, 127 from Karnataka, 97 from Tamil Nadu, 86 from Andhra Pradesh, 61 from Uttar Pradesh, 57 from West Bengal, 43 from Punjab, 18 from Jharkhand, 17 from Madhya Pradesh, 13 each from Delhi and Gujarat, 12 from Rajasthan and 11 from Kerala.

Ten fatalities have been reported each from Assam, Haryana and Odisha, nine each from Chhattisgarh and Telangana, seven each from Jammu and Kashmir and Uttarakhand, five from Puducherry and Tripura, four from Goa, three from Bihar, while Andaman and Nicobar Islands have registered two fatalities each.

Of the total 58,390 deaths, Maharashtra has reported the maximum at 22,465 followed by 6,614 in Tamil Nadu, 4,810 in Karnataka, 4,313 in Delhi, 3,368 in Andhra Pradesh, 2,987 in Uttar Pradesh, 2,908 in Gujarat, 2,851 in West Bengal and 1,246 in Madhya Pradesh.

So far, 1,129 people have died of COVID-19 in Punjab, 967 in Rajasthan, 770 in Telangana, 624 in Jammu and Kashmir, 613 in Haryana, 514 in Bihar, 419
in Odisha, 330 in Jharkhand, 252 in Assam, 234 in Kerala and 207 in Uttarakhand.

Chhattisgarh has registered 206 deaths, Puducherry 164, Goa 148, Tripura 78, Chandigarh 37, Andaman and Nicobar Islands 35, Himachal Pradesh 29, Ladakh 23, Manipur 22, Nagaland nine, Meghalaya eight, 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 on its website, adding that state-wise distribution of figures is subject to further verification and reconciliation.