Covid: 1 crore tests jump; 38.5 lakh recoveries; active vs total cases in India

Amid a spurt in COVID-19 cases, the government on Tuesday said India learnt from the experience of nations that suffered high mortalities and was able to “distribute the curve” of coronavirus infection due to a “very effective” lockdown and avoid the “huge peak” those countries had in terms of deaths. Asserting that India has one of the largest number of COVID-19 recoveries, Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said there are 14 states and union territories (UTs) in the country where the number of active cases are less than 5,000. Bhushan said there are 18 states and UTs in the country where the total number of active cases are between 5,000 and 50,000, while there are only four states with more than 50,000 active cases. India's cases per million population is amongst the lowest in the world, which stands at 3,573 while the global average is 3,704, he said. Bhushan also underlined that India's COVID-19 deaths per million population at 58 is also amongst the lowest in the world and the global average is 118.