72,000 fresh COVID cases and 986 new deaths reported in India in the past 24 hours

With a fresh spike of 72,049 coronavirus cases and 986 deaths in 24 hours, India's tally on Wednesday went past the 67-lakh-mark with a total of 67,57,131 cases. Out of these, 9,07,883 are currently active; 57,44,693 have been discharged, while 1,04,555 have lost the battle against the pandemic.

The recovery rate stands at 85.02 per cent and the fatality rate at 1.55 per cent, the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said. Maharashtra continues to be the worst-hit with a total of 14,65,911 cases including 38,717 deaths; followed by Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi.

According to the data from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), India conducted 11,99,857 sample tests in a single day on Tuesday, taking the total number of samples tested so far to 8,22,71,654.