With over 54,000 COVID-19 cases in a day, India's tally crosses 17 lakh

In a worrying development, India's COVID-19 tally crossed the 17-lakh mark on Sunday, just two days after it went past 16 lakh. With 54,735 cases being reported in a day, the total coronavirus cases surged to 17,50,723, according to the Union Health Ministry data. 

 While the death toll climbed to 37,364 with 853 people succumbing to the disease in a day, the data revealed that the fatality rate has further dropped to 2.13 per cent. The health ministry stressed that more than 70 per cent of the deaths occurred due to comorbidities.

The recoveries have mounted to 11,45,629, while there are 5,67,730 active cases of coronavirus infection in the country presently. However, on the positive side, the ministry added that the recovery rate among COVID-19 patients has risen to 65.44 per cent

This is the fourth consecutive day that COVID-19 cases have increased by more than 50,000. According to the ICMR, a cumulative total of 1,98,21,831 samples have been tested up to August 1 with 463,172 samples being tested on Saturday. Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh are new hotspots with a surge in the number of cases. 

With 1,40,933 infections, Andhra Pradesh surpassed Delhi to become the third worst coronavirus-hit state in the country. West Bengal reported its highest single-day COVID-19 fatality of 48 on Saturday, even as the daily rise in cases crossed the 2,500-mark for the first time. Maharashtra, which is the worst-hit state, has a total of 1,49,214 active cases and 15,316 deaths. A total of 4,31,719 coronavirus cases have been recorded in the state up to Saturday, as per the state health department.

Of the 853 fresh deaths reported, 322 are from Maharashtra, 99 from Tamil Nadu, 98 from Karnataka, 58 from Andhra Pradesh, 48 from West Bengal, 47 from Uttar Pradesh, 26 from Delhi, 23 from Gujarat, 19 from Punjab, 16 from Rajasthan, 13 from Bihar, 11 each from Telangana and Jammu and Kashmir and 10 from Odisha.

Nine fatalities have been reported from Madhya Pradesh, eight from Kerala, seven each from Haryana and Jharkhand, three each from Assam, Chandigarh, Goa and Uttarakhand, two each from Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Chhattisgarah, Puducherry and Telangana while Manipur has recorded one fatality.

Of the total 37,364 deaths, Maharashtra has reported the maximum at 15,316 followed by 4,034 in Tamil Nadu, 3,989 in Delhi, 2,464 in Gujarat, 2,412 in Karnataka, 1,677 in Uttar Pradesh, 1,629 in West Bengal, 1,407 in Andhra Pradesh and 876 in Madhya Pradesh.

So far, 690 people have died of COVID-19 in Rajasthan, 530 in Telangana, 428 in Haryana, 405 in Punjab, 388 in Jammu and Kashmir, 309 in Bihar, 187 in Odisha, 113 in Jharkhand, 101 in Assam, 83 in Uttarakhand, 81 in Kerala.

Chhattisgarh has registered 55 deaths, Puducherry 51, Goa 48, Tripura 23, Chandigarh 18, Himachal Pradesh 14, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Ladakh seven each, Manipur six, Meghalaya and Nagaland five each,  Arunachal Pradesh three, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu two and Sikkim one.

India continues to be the third worst-hit country in the world. At 3.6 per cent, India's rate of increase in cases is more than double rate --1.6 per cent-- in the USA. It is also higher than Brazil's 2.3 per cent.