Coronavirus Latest Updates / India's COVID-19 Tally Crosses 26-lakh Mark, Records 57,982 New Cases

A spike of 57,982 new cases took India's COVID-19 tally past 26 lakh on Monday, while the number of fatalities neared 51,000 with 941 deaths, Union Health Ministry data showed.

The country's coronavirus count touched 26,47,664 including 6,76,900 active cases, 19,19,843 discharged and 50,921 deaths on Monday. According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), 7,31,697 samples were tested on August 16 and over 3 crore samples have been tested so far. 3,00,41,400 samples have been tested up to August 16.

Focussing on aggressive testing, India has surpassed three crore COVID-19 tests with the aim to keep both positivity rate and fatality rate low, Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry said on Monday. "Focussing on timely and aggressive testing, India has exceeded 3 crore tests. Enhanced and timely testing is not only keeping the positivity rate low but also the fatality rate low," Union Health Ministry tweeted.

"Aggressive testing leads to early identification and isolation of COVID-19 positive cases. This coupled with efficient clinical treatment brings the fatality rate down," it added. The Ministry also said that enhanced testing is not only keeping the positivity rate low but also the fatality rate low.

Meanwhile, the overall number of global coronavirus cases has topped 21.5 million, while the deaths were nearing 774,000, according to the Johns Hopkins University. As of Monday morning, the total number of cases stood at 21,598,893 and the fatalities rose to 773,934, the University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) revealed in its latest update.

The US accounted for the world's highest number of infections and fatalities at 5,403,213 and 170,052, respectively, according to the CSSE. Brazil came in the second place with 3,340,197 infections and 107,852 deaths.