The daily spike in coronavirus infections dropped below 65,000 on Tuesday and the total recoveries surpassed 56 lakh improving the recovery rate to 84.70 per cent, the Union Health Ministry said. It, however, added that 61,267 new infections pushed the caseload to 66,85,082.

The death toll climbed to 1,03,569 with 884 people succumbing to the disease in a span of 24 hours, the ministry data updated at 8 am showed. The total recoveries have surged to 56,62,490 while there are 9,19,023 active cases in the country which comprises 13.75 per cent of the total caseload, the data stated.

The COVID-19 case fatality rate was recorded at 1.55 per cent. According to ICMR, a total of 8,10,71,797 samples have been tested up to October 5 with 10,89,403 samples being tested on Monday. The 884 new fatalities include 263 from Maharashtra, 84 from Karnataka, 63 from Uttar Pradesh, 62 from Tamil Nadu, 61 from West Bengal, 38 each from Punjab and Andhra Pradesh, 36 from Chhattisgarh and 32 from Delhi.

Total 1,03,569 deaths reported so far in the country includes 38,347 from Maharashtra followed by 9,846 from Tamil Nadu, 9,370 from Karnataka, 6,092 from Uttar Pradesh, 6,019 from Andhra Pradesh, 5,542 from Delhi, 5,255 from West Bengal, 3,641 from Punjab and 3,509 from Gujarat. The Health Ministry stressed that over 70 per cent of the deaths occurred due to comorbidities, additional conditions co-occurring with a primary condition.

"Our figures are being reconciled with the Indian Council of Medical Research," the ministry said on its website, adding that state-wise distribution of figures is subject to further verification and reconciliation.