India's COVID-19 count rose to 18,55,745 after 52,050 people tested positive on Tuesday, while the death count increased by 803 to reach 38,938, figures from the Union Health Ministry showed. 12,30,509 patients across the country have recovered so far, taking the recovery rate to 66.30% per cent.
Former Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah today tweeted to say that he has tested positive for the novel coronavirus, the latest among prominent public figures in the country to have contracted the virus, which has led to the death of a minister in the Uttar Pradesh government.
India is the country with the third-highest coronavirus caseload in the world after the United States and Brazil.
India's COVID-19 tally crossed the 18-lakh mark on Monday, just a day after it went past 17 lakh, with 52,972 cases being reported in a day. It took just 186 days for India to cross the 18-lakh mark, after the first case was reported in Kerala in January this year. The country had crossed the one lakh-mark in 110 days. More than 60 per cent of total cases in the country and over 50 per cent of total deaths have been recorded in July.
Maharashtra has reported the highest number of cases, followed by Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh.
