India’s COVID-19 tally crosses 5 million mark — with an addition of one million cases in just 11 days

• India reported 90,000 new coronavirus infections on September 15 and 1,275 deaths.
  
• The World Health Organisation reported the highest number of COVID-19 cases — 308,000 new cases in 24 hours — on September 13.
  
• As of today, India has the most number of COVID-19 active cases after the US.
  

India becomes the second country in the world to report 5 million COVID-19 cases after the US. It has added a million cases in just 11 days. India reported 90,000 new coronavirus infections on September 15 and 1,275 deaths.

The World Health Organisation reported the highest number of COVID-19 cases — 308,000 new cases in 24 hours — on September 13. The three worst-hit countries — India, the US, and Brazil — accounted for over half of all the new cases.

Days taken for per million increase in COVID-19 cases
Source: TOI
As of today, India has the most number of COVID-19 active cases after the US.

On July 17, India had logged 10 lakh cases, which then doubled to 20 lakh in 20 days on August 7. The country added another 10 lakh on August 23 and went past 40 lakh on September 5. In 11 days, it added another 10 lakh cases, mounting to 50 lakh cases on Wednesday.

Out of the total cases, 9,95,933 are active, 39,42,360 have been discharged, while 82,066 lost the battle against the viral disease. In the last 24 hours, 82,961 patients were discharged.

While the recovery rate stands at a whooping high of 78.53 per cent, the fatality rate has come down to 1.63 per cent, the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said.

Maharashtra continues to be the worst-hit with a total of 10,97,856 cases, including 30,409 deaths; followed by Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh.

On Monday, the ministry asked Delhi, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu to ramp up their testing. These are the states whose positivity rates are faring above the national average. Meanwhile, four of these states account for more than half (53.5 per cent) of the active cases.

According to the data from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), India conducted 11,16,842 sample tests in a single day on Tuesday, taking the total number of samples tested so far to 5,94,29,115.

(With inputs from IANS)
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