NEW DELHI, Aug 21 - India�s COVID-19 tally zoomed past 29 lakh, a day after it crossed 28 lakh, with a single-day spike of 68,898 infections, while the recoveries have increased to 21,58,946 on Friday pushing the recovery rate to over 74 per cent, according to the Union health ministry data.
The total cases of coronavirus infections mounted to 29,05,823, while the death toll climbed to 54,849 with 983 new fatalities being reported in a span of 24 hours, the data updated at 8 am showed.
Case fatality rate has declined to 1.89 per cent, while the recovery rate has risen to 74.30 per cent.
There are 6,92,028 active cases of coronavirus infection in the country which is 23.82 per cent of the total caseload, the data stated.
India�s COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7.
According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), a cumulative total of 3,34,67,237 samples have been tested up to August 20 with 8,05,985 samples being tested on Thursday.
Of the 983 fresh deaths, 326 are from Maharashtra, 116 from Tamil Nadu, 102 from Karnataka, 95 each from Andhra Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, 53 from West Bengal, 36 from Punjab, 22 from Delhi, 16 from Gujarat, 12 from Madhya Pradesh, 11 each from Haryana and Rajasthan.
Nine fatalities each have been reported from Jharkhand, Kerala and Uttarakhand, Odisha, Telangana and Puducherry, seven from Chhattisgarh, six from Jammu and Kashmir, five from Bihar, four each from Himachal Pradesh and Tripura, two from Goa while Andaman and Nicobar Islands have registered one fatality each. � PTI
