COVID-19 pandemic: India crosses 17-lakh cases mark after record surge in a single day

India's COVID-19 tally breached the 17-lakh mark on Saturday. As per the COVID-19 India tracker at 10.30 pm, India accounted for 17,51,356 cases. The unwanted milestone was reached after India recorded an unprecedented single-day increase of 57,118 cases in the previous 24 hours.

The recoveries, meanwhile, crossed the 11-lakh mark and stood at 11,46,658, according to the COVID-19 India tracker at 10.30 pm. The death toll due to COVID-19 climbed to 37,399, with the COVID-19 India tracker showing 848 deaths until 10.30 pm on Saturday. The total number of active COVID-19 cases stood at 5,66,567 across the country.

The recovery rate among COVID-19 patients was recorded at around 64 per cent, while the fatality rate further dropped to around 2.1 per cent, the COVID-19 India tracker showed.

Notably, India has now recorded over 50,000 COVID-19 cases for the fourth consecutive day.

According to the ICMR, a cumulative total of 1,93,58,659 samples have been tested up to July 31, with 5, 25,689 being tested on Friday.

Of the 764 deaths reported in the 8 am update by the Union health ministry, 265 were from Maharashtra, 97 from Tamil Nadu, 84 from Karnataka, 68 from Andhra Pradesh, 45 from West Bengal, 43 from Uttar Pradesh, 27 from Delhi, 23 from Gujarat, 16 from Punjab, 14 each from Bihar and Telangana, 12 from Jammu and Kashmir and 11 from Rajasthan.

Ten fatalities were reported from Madhya Pradesh, eight from Odisha, four each from Assam, Haryana and Uttarakhand, three each from Goa, Jharkhand, Kerala, two from Chhattisgarh while Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Chandigarh, Manipur and Puducherry recorded one fatality each.