Coronavirus outbreak: India records 54,366 new COVID-19 cases; Active cases below 7 lakh

New Delhi, Oct 23: Union health ministry on Friday said the number of coronavirus cases reported in a span of 24 hours remained below 60,000 for the fifth consecutive day. The recoveries have crossed 69 lakh.

According to the helath ministry, the COVID-19 caseload mounted to 7,761,312 with 54,366 new infections being reported in a day, while the death toll climbed to 1,17,306 with 690 more fatalities. There are 6,95,509 active cases of coronavirus infection in the country which accounts for 8.96 per cent of the total caseload.

A total of 69,48,497 people have recuperated from the disease so far pushing the national recovery rate to 89.52 per cent, while the case fatality rate stood at 1.51 per cent.

According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), a cumulative total of 10,01,13,085 samples have been tested up to October 21, of which 14,42,722 were tested on Thursday.

India's COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 30 lakh on August 23 and 40 lakh on September 5. It went past 50 lakh on September 16, 60 lakh on September 28 and crossed 70 lakh on October 11.