In a first, COVID-19 recoveries in India exceed active cases

New Delhi: In a significant development, India on Wednesday recorded more number of recovered COVID-19 patients than the total active cases for the first time. The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) also set a new record by testing more than 50 lakh samples.

As close to 10,000 new instances of the infection were reported in the last 24 hours, the country's cumulative caseload crossed over 2.76 lakh with 279 new fatalities due to the virus in a single day taking the death toll to 7,745.

However, with 5,991 new recoveries in the last 24 hours, the total number stands at 1,35,206 at the rate of 48.88 per cent which is 1,574 more than the active cases as there are 1,33,632 active cases out of the total confirmed cases of 2,76,583 on Wednesday.

The country is the fifth worst-hit nation by the pandemic after the US, Brazil, Russia and the UK, according to data issued by Johns Hopkins University.

Meanwhile, the ICMR has on Wednesday conducted a total of 50,61,332 tests, including 1,45,216 in a single day at its 823 testing facilities.

According to a senior ICMR official, recovery exceeding active cases is as per global trends that highlight 80 per cent cases likely to have mild disease and make a 100 per cent recovery.

"It's a great hope among the people of India at large who are having a mortal fear of the disease. Also, it doesn't mean that people should become ignorant about following social distancing and sanitisation guidelines," the official said.

As per global evidence, 80 per cent of COVID cases are mild cases, while remaining 20 per cent may develop complications which would require hospitalisation and out of the hospitalised cases of COVID-19, only 5 per cent may require ICU care, the official added.

Out of the total 7,745 fatalities, Maharashtra tops the tally with 3,289 deaths followed by Gujarat with 1,313 deaths, Delhi with 905, Madhya Pradesh with 420, West Bengal with 415, Uttar Pradesh with 301, Tamil Nadu with 307, Rajasthan with 255 and Telangana with 148 deaths.

The highest number of confirmed cases in the country is from Maharashtra at 90,787, followed by Tamil Nadu at 34,914, Delhi at 31,309, Gujarat at 21,014, Uttar Pradesh at 11,335, Rajasthan at 11,245 and Madhya Pradesh at 9,849.

The number of COVID-19 cases has gone up to 8,985 in West Bengal, 5,921 in Karnataka, 5,459 in Bihar and 5,209 in Haryana.