Coronavirus - Biggest COVID-19 Spike In 24 Hours, Recovery Rate At Its Highest Too

India registered 1,752 new coronavirus cases on Friday - its biggest single-day spike since the beginning of the pandemic - taking the total to 23,452. The number of deaths rose to 723 with 37 more people dying from COVID-19 in the last 24 hours, the Health Ministry said.

Earlier in the day, the government said that a total of 4,748 people have recovered from COVID-19 so far, taking the share of recovered patients to 20.57 per cent of the total active cases - also the highest yet.

India's doubling rate of coronavirus cases has improved to 10 days, from 7.5 days reported earlier this week, the centre said, suggesting that the lockdown enforced since last month to check the spread of the highly contagious disease is a success.

It also said that there are 80 districts now where no new cases have been reported in the last 14 days, suggesting the chain of transmission has been broken.

"Till date, there are 80 districts in the country that have reported no new cases in the last 14 days. The chain of transmission is being broken by the collective efforts of people and administration. We should see that the green zone districts maintain the status of no new cases and also, new districts get added into this category," senior health ministry official Lav Aggarwal said in his daily press briefing.

Dr VK Paul, Niti Aayog member, was quoted as saying by news agency ANI, "Our analysis shows the lockdown has been effective in slowing the doubling rate of COVID-19, and saved lives. The lockdown decision was timely as the around 23,000 cases in India today could have been 73,000."

On Monday, the ministry had said the doubling rate had improved from 3.4 days before lockdown to 7.5 days.

The doubling rate of the cases is considered a marker of how fast the infection is spreading. Based on the data, the government had earlier extended the nationwide lockdown to until May 3.