India records nearly 70,000 new cases in 24 hrs

New Delhi, Aug 20
India has recorded nearly 70,000 new coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours, which is the biggest single-day spike so far. According to the Health Ministry update on Thursday morning, India saw 69,651 new cases over the past 24 hours.
With the nearly 70,000 new cases, India’s coronavirus tally now stands at 28,36,925. Apart from the case spike, 977 deaths were also recorded on Wednesday, taking the Covid-19 death toll to 53,866.
Among the 28 lakh coronavirus cases, India now has 6,86,395 active cases while the number of recovered cases have touched 20,96,664 with a recovery rate of 73.91%.
The Health Ministry has said the country has also recorded a new record of coronavirus testing with 9 lakh tests in 24 hours. Three days ago, India had crossed the landmark of doing 3 crore coronavirus tests.
Meanwhile, global coronavirus cases have gone past the 2.2 crore-mark with over 7.86 lakh people dead across the world, according to the Johns Hopkins University figures. United States is leading the charts with 55 lakh coronavirus cases and 1.73 lakh deaths.
Brazil is second on the list with 34 lakh coronavirus cases 1.11 lakh deaths so far. India ranks third on the list with 28 lakh cases but a relatively lower death toll of 53,000. Mexico is ranked above India with over 58,000 deaths.
Coronavirus cases continue to surge across the world even as the global race for a coronavirus vaccine intensifies. Although Russia has announced itself to be the first country to register a coronavirus vaccine, scientists and the World Health Organisation (WHO) have issued caution. India has two indigenous coronavirus vaccines that are in different stages of testing while the Serum Institute of India (SII), world’s leading vaccine manufacturer, has partnered with Oxford to produce its coronavirus vaccine.                             India Today