India has surpassed Brazil to take the second spot in the list of the nations worst-hit by the coronavirus pandemic after a record spike of 90,802 fresh cases in the last 24 hours taking the country’s tally past 42 lakh, the Union Health Ministry data showed this morning. This is the second consecutive day that the country registered over 90,000 new infections in 24 hours. The United States, which has the highest number of COVID-19 cases in the world, has logged over 62.75 lakh Covid infections so far, about 20 lakh more than India. About 8.82 lakh cases in the country are active cases (20.9 per cent of the total cases) and the recovery rate stood at 77 per cent this morning.
Here are the top 10 developments on coronavirus cases in India:
1. India has been reporting the highest number of daily Covid cases in the world for nearly a month, according to the World Health Organization data.
2. Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh are the five worst-affected states in the country by the outbreak. These five states also reported the highest number of new cases in the last 24 hours.
3. The record surge in cases comes as metro services restart across the country today amid strict measures to check the spread of infection.
4. About 32.5 lakh Covid patients in the country have recovered so far; over 69,000 recoveries were recorded in the last 24 hours. Across the country, 71,642 deaths linked to Covid have been registered since the beginning of the pandemic; 1,016 deaths have been recorded since yesterday.
5. The positivity rate, which is an indicator of the prevalence of the highly contagious disease, stood at 12.6 per cent this morning as compared to yesterday’s 8.2 per cent. About 7.2 lakh samples were tested over the last 24 hours, taking the total number of samples tested to 4.95 crore. India has a population of 130 crore and a patient can be tested more than once till he recovers.
6. India’s “comprehensive and calibrated actions within the umbrella strategy of ‘test, track, treat’ have resulted in a low mortality rate, the Union Health Ministry has said. “Sustained efforts through early diagnosis, and timely and effective treatment continue to steadily push the CFR down,” the Health Ministry said in a tweet. The fatality rate stood at 1.7 per cent this morning.
7. Over 1.43 lakh patients recovered over the weekend; the government data showed 70,072 discharges in the 24 hours leading up to September 5 and a record 73,642 discharges from hospitals on September 6.
8. A central team was rushed to Punjab on Sunday to help the state in its fight against Covid.
9. Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka – three of the four states most badly affected by the Covid pandemic – have been instructed to take aggressive measures to control the spread of the infectious virus. The Union Health Ministry on Saturday directed the three states to keep their mortality rates below one per cent.
10. Across the world, over 2.7 crore cases so far have been logged so far; 8.83 lakh Covid patients have died. After the United States and India, Brazil, Russia and Peru have the highest number of case
