Coronavirus Cases In India: 46,790 fresh COVID-19 cases in India, total cases at 75.97 lakh; 587 deaths in 24 hours, 1,15,197 total deaths

India Coronavirus Cases: Almost 80 per cent patients do not develop severe symptoms, says government

Highlights

India's COVID-19 tally neared the 76 lakh-mark today
46,790 fresh cases recorded in the last 24 hours
Over 67 lakh patients have recovered so far

New Delhi: India's COVID-19 tally neared the 76 lakh mark as the country reported less than 50,000 new coronavirus cases in a day for the first time since July end, government data shows. A jump of 46,790 fresh cases in the last 24 hours took the country's overall cases to 75,97,063, according to data shared by the Health Ministry this morning. The last time new Covid cases were less than yesterday's 24-hour tally was on July 23, when India recorded 45,720 cases. The government recently said the country has crossed its coronavirus peak as its daily average cases have tapered to 50,000-60,000 against a high of more than 90,000 daily cases logged in mid-September.

Here are the top 10 developments on coronavirus cases in India:

The country's downward trend is however bucked by states including Kerala, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, Rajasthan and Delhi, which reported the highest percentage rise in cases.
Maharashtra, the state with highest number of cases, reported about 6,000 new cases - almost a third of what it did during its peak. Some 5,000 new cases were reported from Kerala and Karnataka, followed by West Bengal with almost 4,000 cases, and Tamil Nadu with 3,500 cases. Together these states account for 47 per cent of all cases in the country.
India - the second worst-hit country - also recorded 587 Covid-related deaths, taking the total number of fatalities to 1,15,197; It's death rate has stood steady at 1.5 per cent for weeks.
Of these, about 60 per cent deaths were concentrated in Maharashtra, Karnataka, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh and Tamil Nadu.
One-day recoveries shot to 69,720 bringing down the total active cases to 7.5 lakh. More than 67.3 lakh people have successfully fought off COVID-19 till now, pushing India's recovery rate to 88.6 per cent.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said India has one of the highest recovery rates because it was one of the first countries to adopt a flexible lockdown. He added that the country is already working on putting a well-established vaccine delivery mechanism in place.
World experts have cautioned against banking on populations developing herd immunity to end the pandemic, and said a Covid-19 vaccine is the only solution as countries experience second and third waves of the COVID-19 pandemic. United States - the nation worst-hit by the coronavirus pandemic - is experience a surge in cases as winter sets in. It has more than 82 lakh cases and about 2.2 lakh deaths.
For India as well, experts have cautioned against any laxity in observing coronavirus protocols ahead of the winter months when seasonal diseases and lung infections increase.
A government-appointed panel has said the virus can be brought under control in India by "early next year, with minimal active cases by February end", if safety measures are properly followed. They have also cautioned that in cases of lapses, the country could see "up to 26 lakh cases a day".
The country's daily positivity rate - percentage of people who test positive for the virus against those who have been tested - fell to 4.4 per cent as samples tested over the past 24 hours shot to 10.3 lakh, with a total 9.6 crore tests conducted since January, when India reported its first case.