73,272 fresh Covid cases push national tally to 69.8 lakh

The death toll has risen to 1,07,416 with 926 fatalities

New Delhi, October 10

India reported 73,272 new coronavirus cases, taking the overall caseload to 69,79,423 while 59,88,822 people have recuperated so far, pushing the recovery rate to 85.81 per cent, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated Saturday.

The death toll due to COVID-19 climbed to 1,07,416 with 926 people succumbing to the disease in a span of 24 hours, the data updated at 8 am showed.

For the second day in a row, the number of active COVID-19 cases remained below nine lakh.

There are 8,83,185 active cases of coronavirus infection in the country, which make 12.65 per cent of the total caseload, the data has stated.

The COVID-19 case fatality rate was recorded at 1.54 per cent.

India’s COVID-19 tally had 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.

According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), cumulative 8,57,98,698 samples have been tested up to October 9. As many as 11,64,018 samples were tested on Friday.

The 926 new fatalities include 302 from Maharashtra, 114 from Karnataka, 68 from Tamil Nadu, 62 from West Bengal, 48 from Uttar Pradesh, 39 from Delhi, 38 from Chhattisgarh, 32 from Punjab, 31 from Andhra Pradesh.

The total 1,07,416 deaths reported so far in the country include 39,732 from Maharashtra, followed by 10,120 from Tamil Nadu, 9,789 from Karnataka, 6,293 from Uttar Pradesh, 6,159 from Andhra Pradesh, 5,692 from Delhi, 5,501 from West Bengal, 3,773 from Punjab and 3,547 from Gujarat.

The Health Ministry stressed that more than 70 per cent 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 was subject to further verification and reconciliation.