COVID-19 recoveries cross 31 lakh in India

New Delhi, Sep 06: With a record 70,072 patients recuperating from COVID-19 in a span of 24 hours, the total number of such recoveries surged to 31,07,223 in the country, pushing the recovery rate to 77.23 per cent, the health ministry said on Saturday, while underlining that the "test, track and treat" strategy is showing tangible results.

The COVID-19 case fatality rate has further dropped to 1.73 per cent, it added.

Five states account for 60 per cent of the recoveries. Maharashtra accounts for almost 21 per cent, followed by Tamil Nadu (12.63 per cent), Andhra Pradesh (11.91 per cent), Karnataka (8.82 per cent) and Uttar Pradesh (6.14 per cent), the ministry said.

"The highest ever single-day recoveries of 70,072 were recorded in 24 hours. With this high number of COVID-19 patients recovering and being discharged from hospitals and home isolation, the recovery rate is now 77.23 per cent. This has also led to the declining case fatality rate, which stands at a new low of 1.73 per cent as on date," it said.

Early identification through testing has led to a higher daily number being reported, but surveillance and contact-tracing, along with a focus on a timely and appropriate clinical treatment of patients, have ensured a speedy recovery, the ministry said.

"The higher number of recoveries and the declining fatality rate have shown that India's graded strategy has worked," it underscored.

A total of 4,77,38,491 samples were tested for COVID-19 up to September 4, including 10,59,346 on Friday, the ministry said.

The country has posted more than 22.6 lakh recoveries than the number of active coronavirus cases currently, it pointed out.

There are 8,46,395 active COVID-19 cases in the country currently, which account for 21.04 per cent of its total caseload, the ministry's data updated at 8 am stated.

India's COVID-19 tally mounted to 40,23,179 with a record 86,432 cases reported in a day, while the death toll due to the disease climbed to 69,561 with 1,089 people succumbing to it in a span of 24 hours, the data showed.