India has reported lowest daily coronavirus cases and deaths since mid-August and -July, respectively, government data shared this morning shows. The country reported a jump of 55,722 coronavirus infections in 24 hours -lowest since early August 11 (53,601) - taking its tally to 75.5 lakh, the Health Ministry data this morning showed. The number of cases in the country now stand at 75,50,273. In the 24-hour period, India, which is the second worst-hit country, reported 579 deaths - lowest since July 19 (543) linked to the COVID-19, taking the total number of fatalities to 1,14,610. India currently has a fatality rate of 1.53 per cent due to coronavirus.
Here are the top 10 developments on coronavirus cases:
The number of active coronavirus cases remained below eight lakh for the third consecutive day at 7.72 lakh with a recovery rate of 88.3 per cent. More than 66.6 lakh people have recovered from the viral disease as 66,399 people fought off COVID-19 in the past 24 hours.
India's cumulative COVID-19 positivity rate has remained below 8 per cent for four days, demonstrating that the rate of spread of infection is being effectively contained "by high level of comprehensive countrywide testing", the Union health ministry said on Monday.
Over a 24-hour period, the government also conducted 8.5 lakh tests. Government data shows, its weekly average testing has reduced to 9 lakh a day from almost 12 lakh a day a month ago. The total coronavirus tests done so far has crossed 9.5 crore, the ministry said.
As Centre rushed teams of experts to Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala and Karnataka to help contain coronavirus spread, the daily cases being reported from some of country's worst-hit states have reduced.
Maharashtra, which has the highest number of Covid cases in India at almost 16 lakh cases, recorded almost 9,000 daily cases today, followed by Kerala and Karnataka with around 7,000 cases each. Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal recorded almost 4,000 cases each. Together, they account for almost half of all new cases in India.
Worryingly, West Bengal - which has been seeing record spike in its daily number for the past 2 weeks - has reported the second highest number of deaths among all states.
A government-appointed committee, which said India has crossed the coronavirus peak, has also predicted that the epidemic could be brought under control by early next year if all measures are followed. But, the onset of winter and upcoming festivals may increase susceptibility to the infection and laxity at this point can again lead to a spike by as much as "up to 26 lakh cases within a month".
The total number of infections by the time the epidemic ends, could be about 105 lakh (10.5 million). "If all protocols are followed, the pandemic can be controlled by early next year with minimal active cases by February end," the panel has concluded.
Across the world, there have been a total of almost 4 crore confirmed coronavirus cases with 11 lakh deaths, according to the latest update.
United States, which remains the worst affected country in the world with 81 lakh cases, is seeing a third rise in its coronavirus cases.
