India reported a record 62,538 COVID-19 cases in 24 hours, its biggest single-day spike to cross the 20-lakh mark, as per the data released by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Friday.
Meanwhile, the country recorded nearly 900 fatalities in the last 24 hours, taking its death toll to 41,585, while the 6,07,384 active cases and 13,78,105 recoveries took the COVID-19 tally to 20,27,074.
The overall recovery rate has jumped to 68 per cent from Thursday's level of 67.6 per cent, whereas the death rate dropped to 2.05 per cent from 2.07 per cent on Thursday.
The spike of coronavirus past the 20-lakh mark has made India inch closer to become the ground zero of COVID-19 outbreak.Also Read: Coronavirus vaccine: Covaxin human trials start at Karnataka's Jeevan Rekha Hospital
The country is now tailing the US in adding the most number of fresh COVID-19 cases daily. Where the US has added 59,268 virus cases on average over the last week, India added 54,392 new infections, showing no signs of its virus curve flattening.
Health Ministry secretary Rajesh Bhushan told reporters earlier this week that "We don't need to be overawed by the rising in cases" adding that "countries with high population base will have higher number of cases."
It took India 170 days to clock the 10-lakh mark and only 21 days to double the coronavirus tally to 20 lakh. The country is also adding around 1,000 deaths a day, the third-fastest rate globally, overtaking Mexico.
However, when it comes to deaths per million population, India ranks among the lowest globally, primarily because of its size. According to Our World in Data- a project based at the University of Oxford in the UK, India's deaths per million is approximately 30 as against the average death per million population of over 150 in other larger outbreaks.Also Read: COVID-19 pandemic: Maharashtra govt, Google tie up to deploy online learning tools for schools
Although Delhi, Tamil Nadu, and Maharashtra account for 66 per cent of the total cases in India, newer hotspots continue to emerge. States like Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Odisha, Karnataka, Telangana, and Uttar Pradesh have been adding a large number of new coronavirus cases on a daily basis.
Meanwhile, according to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), a total of 2,27,24,134 samples have been tested till August 6 along with 5,74,783 samples being tested on Thursday.
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