Corona India: crosses 16 lakh mark; stands 5th in death toll across the globe

New Delhi: On Thursday, India crossed the bleak milestone of 16 lakh after reporting over 100,000 cases in 48 hours. In a single day, the country saw the highest surge in new cases with 55078.

The total count of coronavirus cases in India has surged to 16,38,870 which includes 5,45,318 and nearly 35500 people have succumbed to the virus.

India, as a whole, has recorded a 64.54% recovery rate. There are more than 10 states in the country that have reported a recovery rate over 70%.This was the third day in a row for over 37,223 patients to get cured of the virus. So far, 10,57,805 patients have been discharged after recovery.

With 779 new deaths in 24 hours, the health ministry put total fatalities at 35,747, giving India the world’s fifth-highest death count behind the United States, Brazil, Britain and Mexico. 

Of the 779 deaths reported on Thursday, 266 are from Maharashtra, 97 from Tamil Nadu, 83 from Karnataka, 68 from Andhra Pradesh and 57 from Uttar Pradesh. 

India has tested a total of 1,88,32,970 samples so far. The positive rate stood at 8.57 per cent this morning. The country has a population of about 130 crores and a patient can be tested more than once till he recovers.

It took 183 days for India to cross 16 lakh coronavirus cases. Kerala had reported the country’s first COVID-19 patient on January 30. India crossed the one lakh-mark in Covid cases 110 days later.

Maharashtra has reported its highest single-day spike of 11,147 cases and its tally now stands at 4,11,798. Tamil Nadu’s coronavirus tally has shot up to  239,978 with 5,864 fresh cases. Both states have extended their lockdowns until August 31, with some relaxations.

Top 10 worst hit states due to covid19 in India:

Worldwide, over 1.72 crore people have been affected by the pandemic so far; 6.72 lakh have died. The United States – epicenter of the pandemic – has logged over 44 lakh cases so far. India is the third worst-hit country in the world after the United States and Brazil .