New Delhi, August 29: Even as the per-day count of coronavirus cases in India remains alarmingly high, a solace for the country remains the dwindling mortality and surging recovery rates. In a statement issued to the press on Saturday, the government claimed that those COVID-19 patients who are critically ill form a small portion of the overall count. COVID-19 Live Tracker: Map The Spread of Coronavirus in All Parts of India.

As per the states released by the Centre following a high-level meeting chaired by Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan, only 0.29 percent of the patients in India are on ventilator support. The numbers roughly constitute around 2,500 patients out of the total 7,52,424 active cases.

Those on ventilator are considered to be in the most critical phase in the battle against COVID-19. Another 1.93 percent of the total active patients are in intensive care units (ICU), whereas, 2.88 percent of the infected persons are oxygen support. The proportion is way lower than in April-May, when around one-seventh of the total patients required oxygen support.

"The Health Minister informed the GOM that only 0.29 percent of COVID-19 patients are on ventilators, 1.93 percent on ICU and 2.88% of cases are on oxygen support. More than 9 lakh samples were tested in the last 24 hours," said a statement issued by the Government of India (GoI).

Update by ANI

On Saturday, the country reported 76,472 new cases of coronavirus - the second highest in a single-day so far. The numbers came down as compared to Friday, when the Health Ministry had reported more than 77,000 infections. The overall tally has crossed 34 lakh, including 62,550 deaths.

The total number of recovered patients way larger than the tally of infections. 26,48,999 patients have been cured so far, taking the recovery rate to 76.47 percent. The case fatality rate stood at 1.82 percent - which is lower than 1.89 percent recorded seven days ago.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 29, 2020 04:12 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).