63,509 fresh cases take India to 72.3 lakh

New Delhi, Oct 14
India's coronavirus tally has surged to 72.39 lakh cases after a fresh spike of 63,509 infections in the last 24 hours, the Government data showed this morning. The number of fatalities stood at 1,10,586 after 730 deaths were registered in a day. About 63 lakh patients in the country have recovered so far; 74,632 patients have recovered since yesterday. On Tuesday, the country - second-worst affected by the pandemic - recorded an increase of 55,342 infections, the lowest one-day surge in nearly two months.
Here are top 10 developments on coronavirus cases in India:
With 72,39,389 total cases, India is just six lakh cases behind the United States, which has recorded the highest number of infections in the world - 78,56,321. However, the single-day surge in infections in India - as compared to the last month - has significantly decreased when the country was reporting a spike of 80,000- 90,000 cases in a day.
A vaccine against coronavirus is expected to be available by early next year and there could be vaccines from more than one source, Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan said on Tuesday. "We're expecting that early next year, we should have a vaccine in the country from maybe more than one source," he said.
Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh are the five States which have logged the highest number of infections so far. With over 15.43 lakh cases, Maharashtra continues to be the worst-affected State in the country.
Andhra Pradesh, the second worst-affected State, has half the number of cases as compared to Maharashtra -7.63 lakh. While Karnataka has logged 7.26 lakh cases, Tamil Nadu has recorded 6.65 lakh cases and Uttar Pradesh has registered 4.42 lakh infections so far.
In a warning to the public ahead of weeks of festivals and winter holidays, the Government said on Tuesday that the coronavirus "will take advantage of us if we do not follow social distancing norms during the forthcoming holiday season" . "Virus ko acha lagta hai jab hum ikhatte hote hain. Woh iska faayda uthata hai (The virus is happy when we crowd together. It takes advantage of this)," Dr VK Paul, a member of Government think-tank Niti Aayog said during a Health Ministry briefing.
About 47 per cent of the COVID-19 deaths in the country have been recorded among those aged below 60 years, the Centre said on Tuesday, news agency PTI reported. "Also, 35 per cent deaths were recorded in the age group of 45-60 years, 10 per cent in the age group of 26-44 years and one per cent each in the age group of 18-25 years and below 17 years," Secretary in the Health Ministry Rajesh Bhushan told reporters.
The coronavirus curve in Assam has begun to flatten, the State Government said Tuesday, pointing to a steep decline in the positivity rate - from over 8 per cent in mid-September to 1.41 per cent on Monday.
The World Health Organization chief warned on Monday against just allowing the new coronavirus to spread in the hope of achieving so-called herd immunity, saying it was "unethical". "Herd immunity is a concept used for vaccination, in which a population can be protected from a certain virus if a threshold of vaccination is reached," he pointed out during a virtual press briefing, news agency AFP reported.
Across the world, over 3.81 crore cases have been reported so far; 10.86 lakh patients have died. Over 2.64 crore patients have recovered so far.
However, a research released Tuesday highlighted Covid-19 patients may experience more severe symptoms the second time they are infected. The study published in the Lancet Infectious Diseases journal charts the first confirmed case of Covid-19 reinfection in the United States.  NDTV