Coronavirus: India records more than 34,000 COVID-19 cases two days in a row

New Delhi, July 18: The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Saturday said that India recorded more than 34,000 cases of the coronavirus disease for two days in a row as the country's infection tally mounted to 10,38,716.

According to the health ministry, 34,884 fresh COVID-19 cases and 671 deaths were reported in the last 24 hours. On Friday, the country recorded 34,956 cases of the coronavirus disease.

There are as many as 3,58,692 active cases of the viral disease and 26,273 people have succumbed to the novel coronavirus to date.

The number of people who have recovered from the coronavirus disease crossed the 6,50,000-mark after 17,994 patients were cured between Friday and Saturday morning. The recovery rate was at 62.93 per cent, down from Friday's 63.33 per cent, as 6,53,750 patients were cured in a single day.

According to reports, the government has said that India has 727.4 cases per million. Globally, the cases per million population in India are four to eight times less than some European countries.

Even as Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Delhi are reporting thousands of coronavirus cases every day, four eastern states have emerged as the biggest concerns for the Centre in tackling the coronavirus crisis.

West Bengal, Odisha, Assam and Bihar have shown high case positivity rates despite low levels of testing and the emergence of new virus clusters.