India's Covid-19 fatality rate has fallen to 1.93%, among the lowest globally, the health ministry said on Sunday. The recovery rate stands at nearly 72%.
India added 63,490 new coronavirus cases in a matter of 24 hours, taking the total tally to nearly 26 lakh, according to the health ministry's update at 8:00 am on Aug. 16. This includes nearly 50,000 deaths and more than 18 lakh patients who have recovered.
Key figures:
- Total number of confirmed coronavirus cases: 25,89,682
- Active cases: 6,77,444
- Cured/discharged/migrated: 18,62,258
- Deaths: 49,980
- Fresh cases in 24 hours: 63,490
- One-day recoveries: 53,322
- One-day deaths: 944
"The U.S. crossed 50,000 deaths in 23 days, Brazil in 95 days and Mexico in 141 days. India took 156 days to reach this national figure," the ministry said. Aggresive testing, tracking and treatment have contributed to the high percentage of recoveries, it said.
Improved and effective clinical treatment in hospitals, supervised home isolation, use of non-invasive oxygen support, and improved ambulance services have been the focus of the central and state governments, the ministry said. The “tireless efforts” of Accredited Social Health Activists, or ASHA workers, ensured effective surveillance in supervised home isolation, it said.
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Clinical management skills of doctors treating Covid-19 patients have been upgraded by active technical guidance through teleconsultation sessions by domain knowledge experts from All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi.
"These measures have collectively ensured seamless, efficient patient management from home to hospital for critical and severe patients. This has ensured India's case fatality rate is maintained below the global average," the health ministry said. "The steady rise in recoveries has ensured that the percentage caseload is reducing.”
India is now on course to completing 3 crore Covid-19 tests, according to the ministry. This has been made possible by a rapidly growing national network of diagnostic labs—969 in the government sector and 500 in the private sector.
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