Coronavirus India Updates: Death Toll Tops 50,000; Lowest Fresh Cases In Six Days

India reached another grim milestone with over 50,000 dead due to the Covid-19 infection, at a time the country is adding over a lakh new cases every two days.

The country added over 57,000 new cases in a matter of 24 hours, taking the total tally to nearly 26.4 lakh, according to the health ministry’s update as of 8:00 am on Aug. 17. This includes nearly 51,000 deaths and more than 19 lakh patients who have recovered.

Compared to the countries with most deaths - U.S., Brazil, Mexico - India, which is on the fourth place, took the most amount of time to reach the milestone. The country took over 6 times the number of days it took the U.S. to reach 50,000 deaths.

Key figures:

• Total number of confirmed coronavirus cases: 26,47,663
• Active cases: 6,76,900
• Cured/discharged/migrated: 19,19,842
• Deaths: 50,921
• Fresh cases in 24 hours: 57,981
• One-day recoveries: 57,584
• One-day deaths: 941

India’s Covid-19 fatality rate has fallen to 1.93%, among the lowest globally, the health ministry said on Sunday. The recovery rate stands at nearly 72%. Aggresive testing, tracking and treatment have contributed to the high percentage of recoveries, it said.

New cases reported today, though still high, are the lowest in six days.

Global Update

Australia had its deadliest day, and the state of Victoria extended a state of emergency. U.S. fatalities exceeded 1,000 for the fifth consecutive day, though cases slowed. Italy and Spain told nightclubs to close. France’s public health agency warned that all of the country’s Covid-19 indicators are trending upward.

South Korea warned of another mass infection after reporting the highest number of cases since early March. China and Russia have plans to jointly conduct vaccine clinical trials, a top Chinese virus expert said.

Globally, the virus has now infected nearly 21.5 million people globally with the death toll at 773,900.

Track all Covid-19 related news and updates for India, here.

Trinamool Congress MLA Samaresh Das, who had tested positive for Covid-19 recently, died at a hospital in West Bengal's East Midnapore district on Monday, party sources said. He was 76.

The three-time MLA from Egra assembly constituency in the district was admitted to the hospital a few days back after he had tested positive for coronavirus and developed complications of heart and kidney, party sources said.

He died this morning, a senior party leader said.

West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee, in a message, condoled his death.

She said his demise has left a void in the state politics.

Das, a senior leader of the TMC in the district, was first elected as an MLA from Egra assembly constituency in 2009 during a by-election.

Source: PTI

The total number of tests for detection of Covid-19 has crossed the 3 crore mark in India, according to the Indian Council of Medical Research data. A total of 3,00,41,400 samples have been tested until August 16 with 7,31,697 samples being tested on Sunday, the ICMR said.

"Focussing on timely and aggressive testing, India has exceeded 3 crore tests," the Health Ministry tweeted on Monday.

Bihar's Covid-19 caseload rose to 1.04 lakh on Sunday as 2,187 more people tested positive for the infection, while 22 fresh fatalities pushed its coronavirus death toll to 537, a health bulletin said.

Patna district registered the highest number of fresh cases at 255, followed by Bhagalpur (177), Madhubani (127), Aurangabad (113) and Muzaffarpur and Saharsa (97 each), it said.

Five fresh fatalities were reported in Patna, four in Gaya, two each in East Champaran and Rohtas and one each in Bhagalpur, Bhojpur, Buxar, Darbhanga, Gopalganj, Munger, Nawada, West Champaran and Siwan districts, the bulletin said.

Bihar has so far tested 16.79 lakh samples for Covid- 19, including 67,212 on the previous day.

Source: PTI