Active COVID-19 cases below 8 lakh for 2nd day in row; recovery rate 88.03 pc

New Delhi, October 18 

Maintaining a "steady declining trend", the number of active COVID-19 cases in India stayed below eight lakh for the second consecutive day on Sunday and comprised 10.45 per cent of the total caseload, the Union Health Ministry said.

There are 7,83,311 active cases of coronavirus infection as on date. The total number of recoveries have surged to 65,97,209 and exceed active cases by 58,13,898.

The COVID-19 recovery rate in the country has improved to 88.03 per cent, the ministry said.

As many as 22 states and Union Territories, including Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Bihar, Jharkhand, Punjab, Arunachal Pradesh and Chandigarh, have less than 20,000 active cases.

Also read: 61,871 new coronavirus infections push national tally to 74.94 lakh

Also, 10 states and Union Territories, including Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Telangana, Rajasthan and Odisha have over 20,000 but less than 50,000 active cases, while three states -- Maharashtra, Karnataka and Kerala have more than 50,000 active infections, the ministry said.

"The declining trend of the active cases is complemented by the unbroken rising number of recovered cases," it highlighted.

A total of 72,614 coronavirus patients have recovered and discharged in a day while 61,871 new infections were reported during the same period, according to the health ministry data.

The ministry said 79 per cent of the new recovered cases are observed to be concentrated in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh and Odisha.

Maharashtra has contributed the maximum with over 14,000 single-day recoveries.  Also, 79 per cent of the 61,871 new cases are from Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Odisha, the ministry said. Maharashtra reported over 10,000 new cases followed by Kerala with more than 9,000 cases  Of the 1,033 death reported in a day, Maharashtra, Uttarakhand, Karnataka, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Punjab, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala account for nearly 86 per cent of the fatalities.

More than 44 per cent of new fatalities reported are from Maharashtra which registered 463 deaths.

India's COVID-19 caseload mounted to 74,94,551 with 61,871 new infections being reported in a day, while the number of recoveries surged to 65,97,209 pushing the recovery rate to 88.03 per cent, according to the Health Ministry data updated on Sunday morning.

The death toll climbed to 1,14,031 with the virus claiming 1,033 lives during the same period.

India stood second behind the US in terms of active cases of COVID-19 as well as total caseload, according to Worldometer, a website that publishes coronavirus statistics from across the globe. 

Also, the country is in the pole position in terms of the number of recovered cases and third in terms of fatalities globally behind the US and Brazil. —PTI 

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