21k cases in a day are highest so far

As Covid-19 tally in country crossed five lakh on Saturday with the highest single-day surge of 21,500 cases and the toll climbed to 15,751, the Union health ministry included widely used steroid dexamethasone in the treatment protocols in moderate to severe stages of illness among other therapeutic measure.

The total number of recovered cases, meanwhile, has fast outgrown the number of active cases in the country.

According to Union health ministry data, the Covid-19 cases increased to 5,11,901 while 450 fatalities were recorded in the last 24 hours.

The difference between recoveries and active cases is fast nearing 1 lakh. The recovered cases have exceeded the active cases by 98,493 as of Saturday. While the number of active cases stands at 1,97,387, the number of cured cases is 2,95,880.

With this encouraging status, the recovery rate is touching 58.13 per cent. The top five states in terms of absolute numbers of recovered cases are: Maharashtra (73,214), Gujarat (21,476), Delhi

(18,575), Uttar Pradesh

(13,119) and Rajasthan

(12,788).

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) data says that 79,96,707 samples have been tested up to June 26 with 2,20,479 samples being tested on Friday, the highest in a day since the beginning of the pandemic.

Of the total 15,751 deaths reported so far, Maharashtra tops the tally with 7,106 deaths, followed by Delhi with

2,558 deaths, Gujarat with

1,771, Tamil Nadu with

957, Uttar Pradesh with

630, West Bengal with 616, Madhya Pradesh with 546 and Rajasthan 380.