Family members and health workers wearing PPE kits perform the burial of a person who died due to COVID-19 in New Delhi, September 28, 2020. Photo: PTI /Manvender Vashist
New Delhi: More than one lakh people have died due to COVID-19 in India, making it only the third country to pass the grim milestone. The country reported 1,069 new deaths on Saturday, taking the total death toll to 1,00,842, according to the Union health minister.
With 79,476 new infections being reported in the 24 hours since 8 am on Friday, the total infection tally climbed to 64,73,544, the second highest in the world after the US.
India’s COVID-19 tally crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 30 lakh on August 23 and 40 lakh on September 5. It went past 50 lakh on September 16 and crossed 60 lakh on September 28.
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According to the health ministry’s data, more than 54 lakh people have recovered or have been discharged from hospitals, pushing the recovery rate to 83.84%. The total recoveries have surged to 54,27,706, while there are 9,44,996 active cases of coronavirus infection in the country which comprises 14.60% of the total caseload, the data showed. The COVID-19 case fatality rate was recorded at 1.56%.
According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), a cumulative total of 7,78,50,403 samples have been tested up to October 2, of which 11,32,675 were tested on Friday.
India’s COVID-19 death toll is exceeded only by the US (2,08,716) and Brazil (1,45,388). India’s case load of over 6.4 million cases is surpassed by the US, which has over 7.3 million cases. Brazil has just under 5 million cases.
(With PTI inputs)