India / COVID-19 recoveries in India exceed active cases by 20 lakh, cross 28 lakh

New Delhi: The number of the coronavirus disease cases reached close to 3.7 million in India after 69,921 new cases surfaced on Tuesday.

According to Union health ministry update, there are 7,85,996 active cases of the disease while 28,39,882 patients have been discharged.

The country recorded 819 fatalities according to the health ministry data, which pushed the death toll to 65,288.

The ministry had said on Monday that the country’s recovery rate has increased to 76.62 per cent, while the fatality rate has declined to 1.78 per cent.

The last five lakh recoveries have been recorded in only eight days in comparison to preceding same number of recoveries, which were recorded in 10 and nine days respectively, the ministry said.

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

Meanwhile, the Centre is focussing on the states which are witnessing a sudden surge in the number of Covid-19 cases. According to the health ministry, central teams will be deployed in Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Odisha, where spikes have been recorded.

It asserted that the teams will support the states’ efforts towards strengthening containment, surveillance, testing and efficient clinical management of positive cases.

The teams will also guide the states in effectively managing the challenges related to timely diagnosis and follow up, the ministry said in a statement.

Each of the multi-sectoral teams will comprise an epidemiologist and a public health expert.

Of these four states, Uttar Pradesh has the maximum number of active cases, followed by Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand, the ministry said.