COVID-19: India’s active cases drop below 9 lakh after a month

In the last 24 hours, India registered 70,496 fresh coronavirus cases and 964 deaths, which pushed the overall tally and death toll to 6,906,151 and 1,06,490, respectively.

The country’s active cases- which have been below one-million for seventeen consecutive days- further dropped below 9,00,000 on Friday while over 5.9 million people have recovered from the disease so far. The difference between active cases and recoveries has now climbed 5,012,477. The total active cases stands at 8,93,592.

India’s recovery rate increased marginally to 85.5 percent and case fatality rate stood steady at 1.5 percent.

However health experts in some states have warned of a sharp spike in infections ahead of the festival season and winter months.

Doctors in Kolkata urged Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, to take stricter measures to restrict public gathering during Durga Puja as it might lead to increase in the number of cases. Besides a report drafted by the National Center for Disease Control under the guidance of NITI Aayog health expert DR VK Paul has warned that Delhi needs to be prepared well for the spike of coronavirus infections, taking into account the upcoming winter-season related respiratory problems and also due to festive gatherings.

Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Delhi, Gujarat are some of the states which continue to be worst-hit from the pandemic. Maharashtra’s Covid-19 tally is nearing the 1.5 million mark and 39,430 people have succumbed to the infection.

11,68,705 samples tested for Covid-19 on October 8. Total 8,46,34,680 samples tested in the country up to October 8: Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR)

The overall number of global coronavirus cases has topped 36.4 million, while the deaths have soared to more than 10,60,860, according to the Johns Hopkins University. As of Friday morning, the total number of cases stood at 3,64,35,290 and the fatalities increased to 10,60,869. The US is the worst-hit country with the world’s highest number of cases and deaths at 76,03,746 and 2,12,716. India comes in second place in terms of cases at 68,35,655, while the country’s death toll soared to 1,05,526.