A single-day spike of 61,408 infections has taken India's coronavirus caseload to 31,06,348, data from the Union Health Ministry this morning showed. The number of deaths climbed to 57,542 with 836 people dying of the disease in a span of 24 hours. Recoveries among COVID-19 patients in the country surged to 23,38,035, pushing India's recovery rate to 75.27 per cent.
Maharashtra accounts for the maximum of cases (6,82,383), followed by Tamil Nadu (3,79,385), Andhra Pradesh (3,53,111), Karnataka (2,77,814), Uttar Pradesh (1,87,781) and Delhi (1,61,466).
It took India just 206 days to cross the 30 lakh-mark. The milestone came just 16 days after the country reported 20 lakh cases, according to data. India logged more than 20 lakh Covid cases on August 7.
The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) said India has been testing around 74.7 people per lakh population, much higher than WHO's guidelines of testing 14 people per lakh population.
Meanwhile, American authorities announced an emergency approval of blood plasma from recovered coronavirus patients as a treatment against the disease that has killed over 176,000 in the US. The Food and Drug Administration's authorization comes as President Donald Trump faces intense pressure to curb the contagion that has hobbled the world's largest economy and clouded his once-promising prospects for re-election in November.
