India's COVID-19 tally surpass 80 lakh-mark with 49,881 new cases in past 24 hrs; over 73 lakh recoveries

New Delhi: India’s COVID-19 caseload surpassed the 80-lakh mark on Thursday, 18 days after it had gone past 70 lakh. According to the Union health ministry, 49,881 fresh infections were reported in the past 24 hours. At least 73.15 lakh patients have been cured of the viral disease pushing the national recovery rate to 90.99 percent. The total coronavirus cases mounted to 80,40,203 and the toll climbed to 1,20,527 with the novel coronavirus virus claiming 517 lives in a span of 24 hours in the country, the data updated at 8 am showed. The COVID-19 case fatality rate has further declined to 1.49 percent. There are 6,03,687 active cases of coronavirus infection in the country which comprises 7.5 percent of the total caseload, the data stated. According to the ICMR, a cumulative total of 10,65,63,440 samples have been tested up to 28 October. At least 10,75,760 samples were tested on Wednesday alone. India’s COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on 7 August, 30 lakh on 23 August and 40 lakh on 5 September. It went past 50 lakh on 16 September, 60 lakh on 28 September and crossed 70 lakh on 11 October. The 517 new fatalities include 91 from Maharashtra, 60 from West Bengal, 55 each from Chhattisgarh and Karnataka, 40 from Delhi, 35 from Tamil Nadu and 27 from Kerala. A total of 1,20,527 deaths have been reported so far in the country including 43,554 from Maharashtra followed by 11,046 from Karnataka, 11,018 from Tamil Nadu, 6,958 from Uttar Pradesh, 6,643 from Andhra Pradesh, 6,664 from West Bengal, 6,396 from Delhi, 4,158 from Punjab and 3,701 from Gujarat. The health ministry stressed that more than 70 percent of the deaths occurred due to comorbidities. “Our figures are being reconciled with the Indian Council of Medical Research,” the ministry said on its website, adding that state-wise distribution of figures is subject to further verification and reconciliation.