India's Covid-19 fatality rate declines to 1.93%, recovery rate nears 72%

Continuing the downward trend, India's Covid-19 case fatality rate on Sunday dropped to 1.93 per cent, which is one of the lowest globally, the Union health ministry said.

This is a result of coordinated efforts of the Centre and state and UT governments, it said.

"The USA crossed 50,000 deaths in 23 days, Brazil in 95 days and Mexico in 141 days. India took 156 days to reach this national figure," the ministry underscored as the number of fatalities due to coronavirus infection in the country reached 49,980.

Implementation of testing aggressively, tracking comprehensively and treating efficiently through a plethora of measures have contributed to the existing high level of recoveries as well, it said. The total number of recoveries in the country rose to 18,62,258 on Sunday, according to official data.

Improved and effective clinical treatment in hospitals, supervised home isolation, use of non-invasive oxygen support, and improved services of the ambulances for ferrying patients for prompt and timely treatment have been the focus of the Centre and state and UT governments, the ministry said.

It said "tireless efforts" of Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA) have ensured effective surveillance and tracking progress of the patients in supervised home isolation.

Clinical management skills of doctors treating Covid-19 patients have been upgraded by active technical guidance through teleconsultation sessions by domain knowledge experts from AIIMS, New Delhi.

"These measures have collectively ensured seamless and efficient patient management from home to hospital for critical and severe patients. This has ensured that India's case fatality rate (CFR) is maintained below the global average," the ministry said.

From3.33per cent on June 18, the CFR has declined to 1.93 per cent, while India's recovery rate among Covid-19 patients has reached nearly 72 per cent. A total of 53,322 patients recuperated and were discharged in a span of 24 hours.

"The steady rise in recoveries has ensured that the percentage caseload of the country is reducing," the ministry said highlighting there are 6,77,444 active cases of coronavirus infection which compose the actual caseload of the country and comprise26.16 pc of the total cases as on date.

They are under active medical supervision, it said. With efficient and aggressive testing, India is rapidly moving towards completing 3 crore Covid-19 tests, according to the ministry.

A total of 2,93,09,703 samples had been tested for detection of Covid-19 till August 15, with 7,46,608 samples being tested on Saturday alone, the ministry said.

This has been made possible by a rapidly growing national network of diagnostic labs which comprises 969 labs in the government sector and 500 private labs, adding up to 1,469, it said.

India's Covid-19 tally increased to25,89,682with a single-day spike of63,490infections, while the death toll climbed to49,980with 944 people succumbing to the disease in a span of 24 hours, the official data updated at 8 AM showed.