A fresh surge of 53,601 new coronavirus patients in the last 24 hours has taken India's COVID-19 tally to 2.27 million cases, the Union Health Ministry said Tuesday morning. This is the seventh consecutive day that India, which has the third highest caseload in the world, has reported more cases in a day than the United States and Brazil, which have logged more patients than the country since the beginning of the pandemic. About 150,800 COVID-19 patients have recovered in India, the government data shows, and the recovery rate stood at 69.79 percent Tuesday. The country's mortality rate has slipped below 2 percent for the first time in recent weeks. "It has fallen below 2 percent on Tuesday and currently stands at 1.99 percent," the health ministry said. It was 2.70 percent last month and 2.83 percent on June 11. More than 45,000 COVID-19 linked deaths have been registered so far; 871 people died in the last 24 hours. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a virtual meeting with chief ministers of 10 states on Tuesday to review the coronavirus situation. As per the data shared by the World Health Organization, India recorded more cases in a single day than the United States — the epicentre of the pandemic — and Brazil between Aug. 4 and 10. India logged more than 60,000 fresh infections in 24 hours for four consecutive days between Aug. 7 and 10. On Sunday, the country reported its biggest single-day jump of 64,399 fresh infections. The five states that recorded the highest number of fresh infections in the last 24 hours are: Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh. These five states also reported the highest number of COVID-linked deaths since Monday, according to the government. Several top politicians and leaders across the country have tested positive for coronavirus in the recent weeks. On Monday, former president Pranab Mukherjee said he has tested positive for COVID-19. Union Home Minister Amit Shah had tested positive about a week ago. Among others, Karanataka Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa, and Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan have contracted the virus in the recent weeks. — Agencies
