DATA STORY: Over 1 mn tests in a day, coronavirus tally up by nearly 70k

India on Friday conducted more than 1 million coronavirus tests, for the first time yet. On Saturday it reported its biggest single-day spike in number of confirmed cases (69,878) to take its tally to 2,975,701.

The number of recovered cases also rose by the most in a day (63,631), pushing India’s recovery rate to 74.69 per cent. The country’s Covid-19 death toll, meanwhile, reached 55,794, with 945 fatalities being reported in a day.

Now the third-most-affected country by total cases and fourth by death toll, India has added 449,509 cases in the past 7 days alone. Here are the key takeaways from the coronavirus data released by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) on Saturday (August 22, 2020):

With a daily increase of 69,878 in total cases, the most in a day so far, India’s tally of coronavirus cases has risen from 2,905,823 on Friday to 2,975,701 – an increase of 2.4%. Death toll has reached 55,794, with 945 fatalities in a day. India, the third-most-affected country by total cases and fourth by death toll, has added 449,509 cases in the past 7 days alone.

India now accounts for 10.56% of all active cases globally (one in every 9 active cases), and 6.95% of all deaths (one in every 14).

The count of active cases reported across India has risen by 5,302, against 5,633 on Friday. The states that have reported the biggest 24-hour jump in active cases are Maharashtra (2,073), Karnataka (917), Odisha (761), Chhattisgarh (714), and Telangana (699).

With 63,631 new recoveries, the most in a day so far, India’s recovery rate has increased to 74.69%, while death rate has come down to 1.87%.

India’s new daily closed cases stand at 64,576 — 945 deaths and 63,631 recoveries. The share of deaths in total closed cases stands at 1.49%.

India’s 5-day moving average of daily rate of addition to total cases stands at 2.4%.

India’s doubling time for total cases stands at 29.2 days, for active cases at 90.8 days, and for deaths at 40.6 days.

The states and UTs that have seen their respective biggest single-day spikes in total cases are West Bengal (3,245), Gujarat (1,204), Haryana (1,203), Madhya Pradesh (1,147), Himachal Pradesh (190).

Overall, five states with the biggest 24-hour jump in total cases are Maharashtra (14,161), Andhra Pradesh (9,544), Karnataka (7,571), Tamil Nadu (5,995), and Uttar Pradesh (4,905).

Among states with more than 25,000 cases, the five with worst recovery rates at present are in Punjab (60.75%), Kerala (65.05%), Jharkhand (65.16%), Karnataka (66.89%), Odisha (69.45%)

Five states with the highest test positivity rate (TPR) – percentage of tested people turning out to be positive for Covid-19 infection (by cumulative data for tests and cases) – are Maharashtra (18.79%), Puducherry (15.37%), Telangana (12.01%), Karnataka (11.43%), and Delhi (11.39%).

Five states with the highest TPR by daily numbers for tests and cases added – are Puducherry (28.22%), Maharashtra (18.03%), Andhra Pradesh (17.35%), Chandigarh (16.81%), and Ladakh (15.77%).

Among states and UTs with more than 10 million population, five that have carried out the highest number of tests (per million population) are Delhi (70,300), J&K (63,973), Andhra Pradesh (59,935), Assam (56,302), and Tamil Nadu (53,675).

Five most affected states by total tally of cases are Maharashtra (657,450), Tamil Nadu (367,430), Andhra Pradesh (334,940), Karnataka (264,546), and Uttar Pradesh (177,239).

Maharashtra, the most affected state overall, has reported a net addition of 14,161 cases, its highest in a day so far. The state has added 121,849 cases in the past 10 days alone.

Tamil Nadu, which has seen its tally going up by 5,995, has added more than 5,000 cases on each of the past 31 days.

Andhra Pradesh, the third-most-affected state by total cases, has added 61,855 cases in the past seven days alone. On Saturday it added 9,544 cases.

Karnataka has reported 7,571 cases to take its tally to 264,546.

Delhi has added 1,250 cases to take its total tally to 158,604. Its daily rate of increase in cases has been under 1 per cent for 31 days in a row.