New Delhi, October 18: India on Sunday reported 61,871 COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours. The total number of coronavirus cases in the country inched closer to 75 lakh-mark on Sunday. India witnessed 1,033 deaths in a day, an increase of 196 fatalities as compared with the previous day. According to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, 74,94,552 people have contracted the deadly virus so far. The death-toll also mounted to  1,14,031 on Sunday.

As per the data of the Union Health Ministry, there are currently 7,83,311 active cases in the country. Notably, on Saturday, for the first time since September 1, active coronavirus cases in India dropped below eight lakh-mark. Till now, 65,97,209 people have recovered from the disease, while one person has migrated to another country. COVID Recovery Rate Mounts to 94.31 Per Cent in Bihar.

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The COVID-19 recovery rate in India also increased to 87.78 percent. The coronavirus mortality rate in the country is around 1.50 percent.  On Saturday, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) conducted 9,70,173 COVID-19 tests. So far, the ICMR has tested 9,42,24,190 samples for the deadly virus. Notably, India is the second worst-hit country in the world after the United States.

Maharashtra continues to be the worst-hit state of India. On Saturday, Maharashtra's COVID-19 deaths and new cases dropped. The state witnessed 250 deaths on Saturday - less than half the compared with the peak of 515 and the state toll shot up from 41,502 to 41,965 now.

The state recorded 10,259 new cases - much lower than the peak single-day tally of 24,886 - and the state tally climbed from 15,76,062 to 15,86,321 cases till date. The state recovery rate remained high, increasing from 85.03 percent to 85.65 percent. Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh are other worst-affected states of the country.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 18, 2020 10:12 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).