India’s COVID-19 tally surpassed the 18-lakh mark on August 3, a day after it crossed the 17 lakh mark, with 52,972 cases being reported in a day, according to the Union Health Ministry. The country now has 18,03,695 infections of the deadly virus.
With 771 COVID-19 deaths in the last 24 hours, the fatalities have climbed to 38,135.More than 11.86 lakh patients have recovered, pushing the recovery rate to 65.76 per cent this morning. India has tested a total of 2,02,02,858 samples so far. The positivity rate – percentage of patients who have tested positive for coronavirus – stood at 13.90 per cent.It took just 186 days for India to cross the 18-lakh mark, after the first case was reported in Kerala in January this year. More than 60 per cent of total cases in the country and over 50 per cent of total deaths have been recorded in July.At 3.6 per cent, India’s rate of increase in cases is more than double than the 1.6 per cent in US and significantly higher than Brazil’s 2.3 per cent.Maharashtra, the worst hit state, added over 9,000 cases in the last 24 hours taking overall figures to 4.4 lakh cases.Andhra Pradesh, which surpassed Delhi to become the third worst coronavirus-hit state in the country last week, reported 8,555 new cases and 67 deaths on Sunday. Delhi on Sunday reported 15 COVID-19 deaths, the fewest due to coronavirus since June 9. The city also reported less than 1,000 fresh cases of coronavirus.
Several prominent figures in the country, including Home Minister Amit Shah and Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa, have tested positive for coronavirus. On Sunday, Kamal Rani Varun, who served as Uttar Pradesh’s Minister of Technical Education, succumbed to the deadly virus, the first minister in the state to die after contracting the virus.
Six months after the World Health Organization declared a global emergency, the novel coronavirus has claimed more than 680,000 lives and infected more than 17.5 million.
