India on Tuesday crossed the grim landmark of 15 lakh Covid-19 cases, with Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh reporting new infections at a faster pace.
According to the DH Covid-19 Tracker, India had 15,22,858 confirmed cases of Covid-19, an increase of 40,497 by 8:00 p.m. on Tuesday.
The spread of infection appeared to have slowed down in Delhi, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra, with Mumbai recording 700 new cases, the lowest in three months.
States such as Gujarat and West Bengal tightened measures to reign in the spread of the infections. Gujarat government increased the fine for not wearing a mask in public places from Rs 200 to Rs 500 from August 1, when the country would move to the third phase of emerging from the lockdown.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee extended the bi-weekly lockdown in the state till August 31.
On Tuesday, Andhra Pradesh reported 7,948 new infections, Karnataka (5,536), Uttar Pradesh (3,458), Bihar (2,408).
States such as Maharashtra reported 7,717 new infections, Tamil Nadu (6,972) and Gujarat (1,108). However, these states which had a high caseload, have been reporting faster recoveries.
India was on the threshold of reporting 10-lakh recoveries from Covid-19 with more than 34,000 patients getting discharged every day for the past few days. At 8:30 pm, 9,85,632 persons had been cured of Covid-19 and discharged from healthcare facilities.
India has gradually increased testing for Covid-19 and has been testing more than five lakh samples for the past two days. On Sunday, July 26, the ICMR's network of 1,310 labs had tested 5.15 lakh samples for Covid-19, while the number increased to 5.28 lakhs on Monday.
India had reported 34,147 deaths due to Covid-19 on Tuesday, with the government noting that the case fatality rate (CFR) was progressively declining in the country.
“With a CFR of 2.25%, India has one of the lowest fatality rates in the world,” a health ministry official said.