India’s tally of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) went past the 5.4 million mark and the country reported 4,303,043 recoveries so far, the Union health ministry’s data showed on Sunday. The number of active cases stood at 1,010,824 and the country’s death toll rose to 86,752, according to the health ministry’s coronavirus dashboard at 8am.
Data showed India recorded 92,605 new infections and 1,333 patients died between Saturday and Sunday morning. There were 94,612 Covid-19 patients who recovered and were discharged between Saturday and Sunday morning. The recovery rate is now at 79.67%.
India has overtaken the United States, the worst-hit country globally, and become the top nation in terms of Covid-19 recoveries. India now accounts for close to 19% of the total global recoveries, the government has said.
The health ministry has said that 90% of the new recovered cases are being reported from 16 states and Union territories and about 60% are being reported from Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh.
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“Centre-led focussed, responsive & effective measures of early identification through high & aggressive testing, prompt surveillance & tracking coupled with standardised high-quality clinical care have together resulted in this global achievement,” it said.
{{/usCountry}}“Centre-led focussed, responsive & effective measures of early identification through high & aggressive testing, prompt surveillance & tracking coupled with standardised high-quality clinical care have together resulted in this global achievement,” it said.
{{/usCountry}}The health ministry said that 1.2 million tests were conducted on Saturday across the country, the highest number of samples tested in a day so far, and there have been more than 63.7 million so far. The country had conducted the first test for Covid-19 on January 23 at Pune’s National Institute of Virology in Pune.
“Higher testing leads to early identification of positive cases, timely & effective treatment and low mortality. While the number of daily tests has increased as integral part of CHASE THE VIRUS strategy, States have been advised that all symptomatic negatives of Rapid Antigen Tests are mandatorily subjected to RT-PCR,” it said.
India has been conducting one million tests, reverse transcript polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and rapid antigen tests (RAT), on average every day.
Also read | PM Modi likely to hold Covid-19 review meet with chief ministers on Sept 23
The Rajya Sabha on Saturday passed the Epidemic Diseases (Amendment) Bill, 2020, amid rising incidents of harassment and violence against health workers due to a lack of awareness about coronavirus. It provides for up to seven years of imprisonment for those convicted of attacking doctors and healthcare workers during an epidemic. The act will replace an ordinance issued on April 22.
The commission or abetment of violence will be punishable with imprisonment for a term of three months to five years, and with a fine of ₹50,000 to ₹200,000 under the act. In cases of causing grievous hurt, the imprisonment shall be for a term of six months to seven years, with fines ranging from ₹100,000 to ₹500,000.
According to the Johns Hopkins University’s coronavirus tracker, 30,683,828 people have been infected and 955,841 have died across the world so far.