54 per cent COVID-19 cases in age group 18-44 years, majority deaths in age group of 60 and above

New Delhi, Sep 02: The Union Health Ministry said on Wednesday that 54 per cent of the COVID-19 cases reported in India are in the age group of 18-44 years, while 51 per cent deaths are among people aged 60 and above.

Presenting an analysis of COVID-19 cases and mortality on the basis of age, it also said that 36 per cent of the fatalities reported are in the age group of 45-60 years, 11 per cent in the age group of 26-44 years and 1 per cent each among people aged 18-25 years and those below 17 years.

The same figures were shared by Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan during a press briefing on August 25. He had also said that 69 per cent of COVID-19 deaths have been reported among males and 31 per cent among females.

The health ministry stressed that more than 70 per cent of the deaths occurred due to comorbidities.

As far as cases of coronavirus infection are concerned, 54 per cent are in the age group 18-44 years, 26 per cent among those aged 45 to 60 years, eight per cent among those below 17 years and 12 per cent among those 60 years and above, it stated.

India''s COVID-19 tally of cases galloped past 37 lakh on Wednesday with 78,357 new instances of the disease reported in a day, while the number of recoveries crossed 29 lakh pushing the recovery rate to 76.98 per cent, the Union health ministry data showed.

The death toll climbed to 66,333 with 1,045 more fatalities reported in 24 hours. India has so far reported 37,69,523 cases of the viral disease, according to the data updated at 8 am.

The total number of COVID-19 recoveries in the country has surged to 29,01,908, while the fatality rate has further declined to 1.76 per cent. There are 8,01,282, active cases in the country which comprises 21.26 per cent of the total caseload, the data stated.