India logs record surge of 2.73 lakh new cases

NEW DELHI, Apr 19: India’s total tally of COVID-19 cases crossed the 1.50-crore mark with around 25 lakh cases being added in just 15 days, while active cases surpassed the 19-lakh mark, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated today.
The nationwide tally of COVID-19 cases mounted to 1,50,61,919 with a record single-day rise of 2,73,810 Coronavirus infections.
The death toll increased to 1,78,769 with a record 1,619 daily new fatalities, the data updated at 8 am showed.
The country’s total COVID-19 infections had surpassed the  one-crore mark on December 19 after which it took 107 days to cross the 1.25 crore on April 5. However, it only took 15 days for the cases to cross the 1.50-crore mark.
Registering a steady increase for the 40th day in a row, the active cases increased to 19,29,329, comprising 12.81 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has dropped to 86 per cent.
The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 1,29,53,821 and the case fatality rate has further dropped to 1.19 per cent, the data stated.   India’s COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 30 lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on September 5 and 50 lakh on September 16.It went past 60 lakh on September 28,  70 lakh on October 11, crossed 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20 and surpassed the one-crore mark on December 19.
According to the ICMR,  26,78,94,549 samples have been tested up to April 18 with 13,56,133  samples being tested on Sunday.
The 1,619 new fatalities include 503 from Maharashtra, 170 from Chhattisgarh, 161 from Delhi, 127 from Uttar Pradesh, 110 from Gujarat, 81 from Karnataka, 68 from Punjab, 66 from  Madhya Pradesh, 50 from Jharkhand, 42 each from Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu, 29 from Haryana, 28 from West Bengal and 25 from Kerala. (PTI)