Coronavirus Cases Near 1.7m; Death Toll Mounts To 36,511

Ministry says over a million patients have recovered at 64.52% rate, adds danger signals keep coming from AP; Serum Institute gets permission to conduct human trials of vaccine

- Resmi Sivaram

India’s coronavirus (COVID-19) cases is nearing 1.7 million.

As of Saturday morning, data from the Union ministry of health showed India reporting 57,118 new infections in the past 24 hours. The caseload stands at 16,95,988. Death toll has hit 36,511, after 764 deaths on Friday.

The ministry said more than a million patients — 10,94,374 — have recovered, and the recovery rate is 64.52 per cent.

Danger signals keep coming from Andhra Pradesh (AP), officials at the ministry said.

Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu have maximum cases, but Delhi has eased.

At the same time, Andhra Pradesh has surpassed Delhi’s total tally with a sudden surge, becoming the third worst coronavirus-hit state.

On Friday, Andhra recorded more than 10,000 new cases for a third straight day. The total stands at 1,40,933.

The ministry data shows that in July alone Andhra Pradesh reported 1,26,337 cases, registering an 865 per cent rise in the number of infections — the most by any state in the country. July saw an addition of 126,000 cases. Delhi had 1,195 new cases on Friday, and has slipped to the fourth place with a total tally of 1,35,598.