India’s Covid-19 caseload crossed past 74 lakh, whereas the number of people who have recovered from the disease crossed 65 lakh pushing the recovery rate to 87.78%, as per data updated by the Union Health Ministry on Saturday.

The Covid-19 death toll reached to 1,12,998 with the virus claiming 837 lives in a day, while the infection tally crossed to 74,32,680 with 62,212 new cases being reported, the data updated at 8 am showed. The active cases of coronavirus infection dropped below 8 lakh for the first time in one-and-half months, the ministry added. For 9 consecutive days, the active cases remained below 9 lakh.

As per the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), a cumulative total of 9,32,54,017 samples have been tested till October 16 with 9,99,090 samples being tested on Friday. The 837 new sufferers include 306 from Maharashtra, 73 from Karnataka, 61 from West Bengal, 57 from Tamil Nadu, 46 from Uttar Pradesh and 40 from Chhattisgarh.  Thus far, total 1,12,998 deaths reported in the country which includes 41,502 from Maharashtra, followed by 10,529 from Tamil Nadu, 10,356 from Karnataka, 6,589 from Uttar Pradesh, 6,382 from Andhra Pradesh, 5,946 from Delhi, 5,931 from West Bengal, 3,980 from Punjab and 3,617 from Gujarat.

The health ministry stressed that over 70 per cent of the deaths occurred due to comorbidities. "Our figures are being reconciled with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR)," the ministry said on its website, adding that state-wise distribution of figures is subject to further verification and reconciliation. 

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More than 62,000 corona cases reported in the country, 837 people died