COVID-19 recoveries cross 27 lakh, case fatality rate drops to 1.79%: Health ministry

New Delhi, Aug 30: India's COVID-19 recoveries have sprinted past 27 lakh, taking the recovery rate to 76.61 per cent, while the case fatality rate has further dropped to 1.79 per cent, the health ministry said on Sunday.

It also highlighted that active cases of the infection comprise only 21.60 per cent of the total caseload.

With more patients recovering and being discharged from hospitals and home isolation, the country's total coronavirus recoveries have reached 27,13,933, the ministry said, adding that it has been possible because of effective implementation of the Centre's policy of "testing aggressively, tracking comprehensively through timely surveillance of close contacts and treating effectively through a widening medical care infrastructure across the country".

With a total of 64,935 patients having recovered in a span of 24 hours, India's recovery rate amongst the COVID-19 patients has improved to 76.61 per cent and is demonstrating continuous progress, the ministry underlined.

The recovery rate was 7.69 per cent on April 5. It improved to 26.59 per cent on May 3 and 47.76 per cent on May 31. It was recorded at 60.77 per cent on July 5.

The number of patients recovering is on a steady rise over the past several months and as on date exceeds the active cases by 3.55 times, the ministry said.

India has posted nearly 19.5 lakh (19,48,631) recoveries more than 7,65,302 active cases.

The record high recoveries have ensured that 7,65,302 active cases of coronavirus, which is the "actual caseload of the country and the same comprises only 21.60 per cent of the total positive cases," the ministry underscored.

This has aided the fast widening gap between the number of patients recovered and the active cases, it said.

"Timely and effective clinical management of the patients in critical care through a slew of holistic measures has been instrumental in keeping the case fatality rate low and on a steady downward trajectory. It has further dipped to 1.79 per cent today," the ministry said on Sunday.

India's COVID-19 tally rose to 35,42,733 with a record single-day spike of 78,761 infections, while the death toll climbed to 63,498 with 948 people succumbing to the disease in a span of 24 hours, the ministry data updated at 8 am on Sunday showed.