Record 1,133 fatalities push COVID toll to 72,775

India's COVID-19 tally rose by 75,809 in the last 24 hours to reach 42,80,422 on Tuesday, while a record 1,133 fatalities took the death toll to 72,775, the Union health ministry data showed.

IMAGE: Health workers wearing personal protective equipment carry the body of a man, who died due to the coronavirus disease, at a crematorium in New Delhi. Photograph: Adnan Abidi/Reuters

During the same period, the number of recoveries surged to 33,23,950 pushing the recovery rate to 77.65 per cent, according to the data updated at 8 am on Tuesday.

The COVID-19 case fatality rate stands at 1.7 per cent.

According to the data, there are 8,83,697 active cases of coronavirus infection in the country which comprise 20.65 per cent of the total caseload.

IMAGE: A wall mural to pay tribute to corona warriors, during the biweekly lockdown to curb COVID-19 spread, in Kolkata. Photograph: Swapan Mahapatra/PTI Photo

India's tally of coronavirus infection crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, reached 30 lakh on August 23 and went past 40 lakh on September 5.

According to the Indian Council of Medical Research, the number of tests conducted for detection of COVID-19 in India has reached 5,06,50,128 with 10,98,621 samples being tested on Monday.

Of the fresh deaths, 423 were reported from Maharashtra, 141 from Karnataka, 89 from Tamil Nadu, 70 from Andhra Pradesh, 61 from Punjab, 58 from West Bengal, 56 from Uttar Pradesh, 32 from Delhi, 23 from Haryana, 17 each from Madhya Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir, 15 each from Chhattisgarh and Gujarat, 14 from Rajasthan and 13 from Jharkhand.

Twelve fatalities were reported from Kerala, 11 each from Bihar, Puducherry and Telangana, 10 each from Assam and Odisha, nine from Goa, seven from Uttarakhand, three each from Chandigarh and Tripura, while Himachal Pradesh and Meghalaya have registered one fatality each.

IMAGE: A health worker in personal protective equipment collects a swab sample from a woman during a rapid antigen testing campaign for the coronavirus disease in Mumbai. Photograph: Francis Mascarenhas/Reuters

Of the total 72,775 deaths, Maharashtra has reported the maximum at 27,027 followed by 7,925 in Tamil Nadu, 6,534 in Karnataka, 4,599 in Delhi, 4,487 in Andhra Pradesh, 3,976 in Uttar Pradesh, 3,620 in West Bengal, 3,120 in Gujarat and 1,923 in Punjab.

So far, 1,589 people have died of COVID-19 in Madhya Pradesh, 1,151 in Rajasthan, 906 in Telangana, 829 in Haryana, 801 in Jammu and Kashmir, 761 in Bihar, 556 in Odisha, 482 in Jharkhand, 395 in Chhattisgarh, 370 in Assam, 359 in Kerala and 348 in Uttarakhand.

Puducherry has registered 325 fatalities, Goa 245, Tripura 152, Chandigarh 74, Himachal Pradesh 56, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands 50, Manipur 38, Ladakh 35, Meghalaya 17, Nagaland 10, Arunachal Pradesh eight, Sikkim five and Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu two.

The health ministry stressed that more than 70 per cent of the deaths occurred due to co-morbidities.

"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.