COVID-19: India overtakes Brazil with second highest number of cases

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New Delhi: India has surpassed Brazil to record the second-highest number of COVID-19 cases at 1,35,27,717, as a record 1,68,912 new infections were reported in a day.

The active cases have surpassed the 12-lakh mark, while the death toll increased to 1,70,179 with 904 new fatalities in a day, the highest since October 18, 2020, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated at 8 AM on April 12. The national COVID-19 recovery rate has fallen below 90%.

According to the Johns Hopkins University (JHU) data, India has overtaken Brazil, which is now at the third spot in the COVID tally with 1,34,82,023 cases.

The US has the highest number of cases at 3,11,98,055 while globally 13,61,36,954 cases have been reported.

Registering a steady increase for the 33rd day in a row, the active cases have increased to 12,01,009 in India comprising 8.88% of the total infections, while the recovery rate has further dropped to 89.86%.

Before the latest surge, the active caseload was at its highest at 10,17,754 on September 18, 2020 and had decreased to 1, 35,926 on February 12.

The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 1,21,56,529, while the case fatality rate has further dropped to 1.26%, the data stated.

India’s COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 30 lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on September 5 and 50 lakh on September 16.

It went past  60 lakh on September 28,  70 lakh on  October 11, crossed 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20 and surpassed the one-crore mark on December 19.

According to the ICMR, 25,78,06,986 samples have been tested up to April 11 with 11,80,136 samples being tested on April 11.

The 904 new fatalities include 349 from Maharashtra, 122 from Chhattisgarh, 67 from Uttar Pradesh, 59 from Punjab, 54from Gujarat, 48 from Delhi, 40 from Karnataka, 24 from Madhya Pradesh, 22 from Tamil Nadu, 21 from Jharkhand, 16 each from Kerala and Haryana and 10 each from Rajasthan and West Bengal.

A total of 1,70,179 deaths have been reported so far in the country including 57,987 from Maharashtra, 12,908 from Tamil Nadu, 12,889 from Karnataka, 11,283 from Delhi, 10,400 from West Bengal, 9,152 from Uttar Pradesh, 7,507 from Punjab and 7,300 from Andhra Pradesh.

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

“Our figures are being reconciled with the Indian Council of Medical Research,” the ministry said on its website, adding that state-wise distribution of figures is subject to further verification and reconciliation.