India has leaped across a significant milestone in its fight against COVID. The active caseload of the country has fallen below 8 lakh for the first time after one and a half months.

The total positive cases of the country today are 7,95,087. They comprise merely 10.70% of the total cases. The active caseload was below the 8L mark (7,85,996) last on 1^st September.

With a high number of COVID patients recovering every day, India’s steady trend of registering dipping active cases continues.

India is also reporting a high number of recoveries. The total recovered cases have crossed 65 lakhs (65,24,595). The difference between active cases and recovered cases is consistently increasing and stands at 57,29,508 today.

70,816 patients have recovered and discharged in the last 24 hours whereas the new confirmed cases are  62,212. The national Recovery Rate has further grown to 87.78%

Enhanced countrywide medical infrastructure, implementation of the Centre’s Standard Treatment Protocol by the States/UTs, and total dedication & commitment of doctors, paramedics and frontline workers have led to a persistent increase in the number of total recoveries with commensurate dip in the fatality rate. India is the only country with the highest recoveries and continues to have one of the lowest fatality rates globally. Today it stands at 1.52%. These have in tandem resulted in consistent slide in the active cases.

78% of the new recovered cases are observed to be concentrated in 10 States/UTs .

Maharashtra contributes more than 13,000 to the single day recoveries followed by Karnataka with more than 8,000 recoveries.

62,212 new confirmed cases were recorded in the last 24 hours.

79% of these are from 10 States and UTs. Maharashtra is still reporting a very high number of new cases with more than 11,000 cases followed by Karnataka  and Kerala with more than 7,000 cases each.

837 case fatalities have been reported in the past 24 hours. Of these, nearly 82% are concentrated in ten States/UTs.

Maharashtra  has reported the maximum single day deaths (306 deaths).

The Centre continues to support the State and UT Governments in the collective fight against the global pandemic. Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has deputed high level Central teams to Kerala, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and West Bengal. These States have been reporting a surge in the number of new COVID cases in the recent days.

The teams will support the State efforts towards strengthening containment, surveillance, testing, infection prevention and control measures, and efficient clinical management of the positive cases. The Central teams shall also guide in effectively managing the challenges related to timely diagnosis and follow up.

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MV/SJ

HFW/COVID States data/17thOctober2020/1