Coronavirus India Updates: Tally Tops 31.6 Lakh With Nearly 61,000 New Cases

Covid-19 cases in India continued to mount well into the fifth month of the country fighting the virus.

India added nearly 61,000 new cases in a matter of 24 hours, taking the total tally to over 31.6 lakh in the Asia's third-largest economy, according to the Health Ministry’s update as of 8:00 am on Aug. 25. This includes over 58,000 deaths and over 24 lakh patients who have recovered.

Key Numbers

• Total number of confirmed coronavirus cases: 31,67,323
• Active cases: 7,04,348
• Cured/discharged/migrated: 24,04,585
• Deaths: 58,390
• Fresh cases in 24 hours: 60,975
• One-day recoveries: 66,550
• One-day deaths: 848

Fresh cases reported in a 24-hour span fell to 60,975, lower than the nearly 70,000 cases being reported last week. Recoveries rose to over 66,000 on the same day, coming in higher than new cases for the second day.

India's Covid-19 recoveries have crossed 24 lakh and are more than three times the number of active cases of the infection in the country, while the case fatality rate, maintaining a steady downward trajectory, has further dropped.

The Health Ministry has attributed this to effective implementation of the policy of testing aggressively, tracking comprehensively through surveillance and contact-tracing and treating efficiently. "Those in home isolation, being medically supervised and monitored, are also recovering at a fast pace," the ministry said on Monday.

Global Update

Scientists in Hong Kong confirmed the first case of coronavirus re-infection. Moderna Inc. said it’s near a deal to supply at least 80 million vaccine doses to the European Union, as the spread of cases accelerates across the continent. In Singapore, a newly confirmed case was identified in a foreign worker dormitory that had previously been declared clear. Hong Kong reported its first single-digit increase in daily cases since the latest wave of infections began in early July.

Globally, cases crossed 23.5 million leaving over 8,10,000 dead, as of Monday morning.

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

The cost of test kits in the country has significantly down with the help of startups and the Indian industry coming forward, said ICMR’s Directorate General Balram Bhargava.

Beginning of March the RT PCR kit was priced at Rs 1,150, and VTM and RNA extraction costing Rs 320 each. That’s is about Rs 1,790 just for the kits. With the indigenous kits available, the cost of the kits have come crashing down, he said.

Now RT PCR kit is available for Rs 138 and the VTM and RNA extraction kits are available for Rs 90 each. And the total cost is just about Rs 318, he said.

More than 3.6 crore Covid-19 tests have been conducted so far, said Rajesh Bhushan, secretary at the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

• Recovered patients is now 3.4 times the active patients in the country.
• Recovery rate in the country has further increased to 75%
• The number of tests have increased substantially, but the positivity rate continues to come down.
• Seven day rolling average of the positivity rate in the country has come from 11% in first week of August to 8% now.
• About 2.70% of the active cases in the country are on oxygen support
• 1.92% of the total active cases in the country are in ICU
• 0.29% of the total active cases are on ventilators.