MUMBAI:
India reported 83,809 new coronavirus infections for its lowest daily jump in a week, the health ministry said on Tuesday.
The world’s second-most populous nation appeared to be on course to cross the milestone of 5 million cases on Wednesday, as its tally of 4.93 million is just 70,000 short.
The death toll crossed 80,000 on Tuesday, swelled by 1, 054 in the last 24 hours, the ministry added.
India, where cases have been rising faster than any other nation, lags only the United States in terms of its number of total infections.
38.59 lakh people have recuperated so far, taking the recovery rate to 78.28 per cent, the Health Ministry said.
The death toll rose to 80,776 with 1,054 more people succumbing to the infection. The case fatality rate stands at 1.64 per cent, according to the ministry data.
There are 9,90,061 active cases of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), comprising 20.08 per cent of the total 49,30,236 cases, it said.
According to the Indian Council of Medical Research, 5.83 crore tests have been conducted so far and 10.73 lakh samples were tested on Monday.