COVID-19 recoveries in India have crossed 69 lakh, while the number of coronavirus infections reported in a span of 24 hours remained below 60,000 for the fifth consecutive day as the country's caseload rose to 77,61,312, according to Union Health Ministry data updated on Friday.

A total of 54,366 new infections were reported in a day, while the death toll climbed to 1,17,306 with 690 fatalities, the data updated at 8 am showed. The number of active cases of the coronavirus infection is below 7 lakh. There are 6,95,509 active cases of COVID-19 in the country as on date which comprises 8.96 per cent of the total caseload, the data stated.

A total of 69,48,497 people have recuperated from the disease so far pushing the national recovery rate to 89.53 per cent while the case fatality rate due to COVID-19 was recorded at 1.51 per cent. India's COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 30 lakh on August 23 and 40 lakh on September 5. It went past 50 lakh on September 16, 60 lakh on September 28 and crossed 70 lakh on October 11.

According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), a cumulative total of 10,01,13,085 samples have been tested up to October 22 with 14,42,722 samples being tested on Thursday. The 690 new fatalities include 198 from Maharashtra, 74 from Karnataka, 64 from West Bengal, 52 from Chhattisgarh, 45 from Tamil Nadu and 35 each from Uttar Pradesh and Delhi. The total 1,17,306 deaths reported so far in the country include 42,831 from Maharashtra, 10,825 from Tamil Nadu, 10,770 from Karnataka, 6,790 from Uttar Pradesh, 6,524 from Andhra Pradesh, 6,308 from West Bengal, 6,163 from Delhi, 4,072 from Punjab and 3,667 from Gujarat.

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