BENGALURU:
India reported another record surge in daily COVID-19 cases on Friday, taking the total to 1.64 million, as the government further eases virus curbs in a bid to resuscitate the economy, while also trying to increase testing.
Infections jumped by 55,078 in the past 24 hours, while the death toll rose by 779 to 35,747, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said on its website.
Maharashtra has reported its highest single-day spike of 11,147 cases and its tally now stands at 4,11,798. Tamil Nadu's corona tally has shot up to 239,978 with 5,864 fresh cases. Both states have extended their lockdowns until August 31, with some relaxations.
India's Covid-19 recovery rate now stands at 64.54 per cent, said Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan here on Friday.
"In the last 24 hours, we have crossed the 1-million mark of patients who have recovered from Covid-19. Today we have 10, 57,805 who people have now recovered. The total number of cases across the country now stands at 16,38,870 cases," Dr Harsh Vardhan said at the Group of Ministers (GoM) meeting here.
The ministry also said it aimed to raise the country’s capacity to 1 million coronavirus tests per day in the medium term, from a record 600,000 on Friday.
The federal government this week announced the reopening of yoga institutes and gymnasiums, and removed restrictions on the movement of people and goods.
Coronavirus worldeide has recorded 277,972 new cases worldwide in the past 24 hours. As many as 17,482,602 people around the world have been diagnosed with Covid-19. While more than 10,925,923 have recovered 675,764 have died so far.