Coronavirus India Updates: Tally Tops 68 Lakh As India Approaches ‘Unlock 5.0’

Active coronavirus cases in India continued to fall, in a positive turn for the country with the second most cases in the world, as fresh infections remained below the 80,000-mark.

India added over 78,000 fresh cases in 24 hours taking the total tally past 68.3 lakh in Asia’s third-largest economy, according to the Health Ministry’s update as of 8 a.m. on Oct. 8. This includes over 1.05 lakh deaths and 58.2 lakh patients who have recovered.

Key figures:

• Total number of confirmed coronavirus cases: 68,35,655
• Active cases: 9,02,425
• Cured/discharged/migrated: 58,27,704
• Deaths: 1,05,526
• Fresh cases in 24 hours: 78,524
• One-day recoveries: 83,011
• One-day deaths: 971

The drop in fresh cases, coupled with the rise in recoveries has led to a significant decline in active cases. India reported 10.17 active cases on Sept. 18, which has fallen to little over 9 lakh in less than three weeks. They now stand for less than 14% of India’s total case load.

Kerala has seen the largest increase in active cases over the last one month, according to Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan. Between Sept. 8 and Oct. 6, active cases in Kerala have almost quadrupled, he said in a press conference on Tuesday.

At the same time, the central government is pushing its fifth phase of ‘Unlock India’ which includes partial reopening of schools and multiples starting Oct. 15. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announce the first phase of reopening the economy in May. The country, already having contracted nearly 24% in the April-June quarter, is headed for a rare annual contraction too.

Global Update

France reported a record number of new cases and Italy’s infections spiked to the highest since April, as Europe grapples with a second wave of the coronavirus. Brazil’s confirmed cases of Covid-19 topped 5 million. President Donald Trump returned to the Oval Office despite being under treatment for the virus and remaining potentially contagious.

Globally, coronavirus cases have topped 35.9 million with 1.05 million of them dead as of Thursday morning.

Track the latest updates on the Covid-19 pandemic in India, here.