COVID-19: India Records 10,584 New Cases

New Delhi, Feb 23: India's total tally of COVID-19 cases surged to 1,10,16,434 with 10,584 new infections reported in a day while the recoveries have crossed 1.07 crore, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Tuesday.

The death toll increased to 1,56,463 with 78 new fatalities, the data updated at 8 am showed.

The number of people who have recuperated from the disease was at 1,07,12,665, which translates to a national COVID-19 recovery rate of 97.24%; the case fatality rate stands at 1.42%.

The active infections due to the novel coronavirus in the country have reduced to 1,47,306, comprising 1.34% of the total caseload, according to the data.

According to an NDTV report between 800 and 900 samples from Maharashtra and Kerala – two states which have seen a spike in COVID-19 cases recently – were sent for genome sequencing over the past month.

Fears surrounding mutant strains of the virus have reportedly led to the move. Genome sequencing is used to determine the complete DNA sequence of an organism and samples are said to have been sought from Punjab and Bengaluru as well.

The report mentions that sources within the home ministry told the channel that it would take three to four days for clarity on whether newer coronavirus strains are causing the rise in COVID-19 cases. So far about 6,000 samples have been sequenced across the country with authorities in Kerala and Mumbai on “micro-level monitoring.”

India's COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20 lakh-mark on August 7, the 30 lakh mark on August 23, 40 lakhs on September 5 and 50 lakhs on September 16.

It went past 60 lakh on September 28, 70 lakh on October 11, crossed 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20 and surpassed the one crore mark on December 19.

According to the Indian Council of Medical Research, 21,22,30,431 samples had been tested up to February 22 with 6,78,685 samples being tested on Monday.

The 78 new fatalities include 18 from Maharashtra, 16 from Kerala and 15 from Punjab.

A total of 1,56,463 deaths have been reported so far in the country including 51,806 from Maharashtra, followed by 12,466 from Tamil Nadu, 12,299 from Karnataka, 10,901 from Delhi, 10,251 from West Bengal, 8,716 from Uttar Pradesh and 7,167 from Andhra Pradesh.

The Union health ministry stressed that more than 70% of the deaths occurred due to comorbidities.

“Our figures are being reconciled with the Indian Council of Medical Research,” the ministry said on its website, adding that state-wise distribution of figures is subject to further verification and reconciliation.

With PTI Inputs