India's Covid-19 count doubles in August; active case tally 21.6% of the total

India’s Covid-19 count had doubled in August with Sunday witnessing the biggest single-day spike in positive cases, pushing the total confirmed cases near the 36-lakh mark.

However, the country has also witnessed a steady increase in recoveries from the disease with 27.23 lakh patients being discharged from healthcare facilities, pegging the recovery rate at 76.61%.

The active caseload of Covid-19 in the country is 7.68 lakh, comprising 21.60% of the total confirmed cases in the country.

For latest updates and live news on coronavirus, click here

On Sunday morning, the total Covid-19 count rose by 78,761, the biggest single-day spike so far.

On August 1, India’s Covid-19 count stood at 17.5 lakh total confirmed cases of which 5.66 lakh were under active medical supervision in healthcare facilities.

Much of August witnessed a daily increase in infections in the range of 62,000-65,000 cases, a number that has crossed the 70,000 cases daily mark in the last week.

The total Covid count on August 8 was 21.52 lakh with active cases at 6.2 lakh, the numbers on August 15 were (25.88 lakh and 6.7 lakh), August 23 (31.02 lakh and 7.09 lakh) and August 30 (35.42 lakh and 7.65 lakh).

“The number of recoveries in India today exceeds the active cases by 3.55 times,” a health ministry official said.

Maharashtra with 16,286 new cases on Sunday, Andhra Pradesh (10,548), Karnataka (8,324), Tamil Nadu (6352), Uttar Pradesh (5,633) were witnessing a fresh surge in cases.

India crossed a crucial milestone in testing for Covid-19 with a record number of 10.5 lakh samples tested for the disease on Saturday alone.

The cumulative tests for Covid-19 have crossed the four crore mark.

The testing strategy also ensured a steady expansion of the laboratory network across the country. As many as 1,583 laboratories – 1,003 in the government sector and 580 private ones – are providing comprehensive Covid-19 testing facilities to people.