New Delhi:India’s COVID-19 tally crossed the 17-lakh mark on Sunday, just two days after it went past 16 lakh, with 54,735 cases being reported in a day, while the recoveries crossed the 11-lakh mark, according to the Union Health Ministry data.
The total coronavirus cases surged to 17,50,723, while the death toll climbed to 37,364 with 853 people succumbing to the disease in a day, the data updated at 8 am showed. The recoveries have mounted to 11,45,629, while there are 5,67,730 active cases of coronavirus infection in the country presently.
The recovery rate among COVID-19 patients has risen to 65.44 per cent while the fatality rate has further dropped to 2.13 pc, the data stated. The total number of confirmed cases also includes foreigners. This is the fourth consecutive day that COVID-19 cases have increased by more than 50,000. According to the ICMR, a cumulative total of 1,98,21,831 samples have been tested up to August 1 with, 463,172 samples being tested on Saturday.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit have tested positive for coronavirus, the latest among prominent public figures in the country to have contracted COVID-19, while Uttar Pradesh minister Kamal Rani Verma succumbed to the infection on Sunday. Taking to Twitter, 55-year-old Shah said he had undergone a coronavirus test after showing initial symptoms
“My health is fine but I am getting admitted to a hospital on the advice of doctors,” he tweeted in Hindi and requested those who had come in contact with him in the last few days to get tested for coronavirus and isolate themselves.
Political leaders, including BJP president J P Nadda, Rahul Gandhi of the Congress, DMK chief M K Stalin, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, wished Shah a speedy recovery.
In Uttar Pradesh, Kamal Rani Varun, the only woman cabinet minister in the state, died of COVID-19 at a hospital in Lucknow on Sunday. She was 62.
The chief of Uttar Pradesh’s BJP unit, Swatantra Dev Singh, too has tested positive and has quarantined himself at his home following doctors’ advice.
Singh made public this information on Sunday in a tweet in Hindi. Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit has tested positive for COVID-19, and has been advised home isolation since his infection was mild, according to a bulletin issued by the Kauvery Hospital in Chennai. (PTI)
