India's COVID-19 tally surged to 73.7 lakh cases after the country added 63,371 fresh Coronavirus infections in the last 24 hours, the government data showed on October 16.
- The number of deaths stood at 1,12,161 after 895 fatalities were registered in the last 24 hours. The death rate in the country stood at 1.5 per cent this morning. The country reported 680 deaths on October 15, the lowest in two months.
- "India continues to have one of the lowest deaths per million population globally," the Health Ministry tweeted on Friday.
- About 64.5 lakh patients in India have recovered from COVID-19; 70,338 patients recovered from the virus in the last 24 hours, pushing the country's recovery rate past 87.6 per cent.
- India now has 8.04 lakh active cases and a daily positivity rate of 6.2 per cent.
The country conducted over 10.2 lakh tests in the last 24 hours, and more than 9.2 crore tests since the outbreak of the virus in the country.
- Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh remained the five worst-affected states with the highest number of cases in the last 24 hours. These states account for 55 per cent of the country's fresh infections.
- All these states also recorded the highest one-day COVID deaths, except Andhara Pradesh and Kerala. As per government data, Maharashtra's deaths per day doubled to 337 yesterday.
- As scientists warn against containing COVID-19 by allowing herd immunity to develop in low-risk populations while protecting the most vulnerable, Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan said India is expected to have a vaccine in a few months and the country should be able to deliver it to people in the next six months.
- India has also come up with a co-infection protocol that signals rising cases of COVID-19 patients also reporting malaria and dengue, besides other seasonal diseases.
- India remains the second worst-hit country in the world behind the United States, which has over 80 lakh coronavirus cases and more than 2.2 lakh fatalities.
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