India's COVID-19 tally crosses 52-lakh mark, recovery rate stands at 78.86 pc

New Delhi [India], September 18 (ANI): India's COVID-19 tally crossed 52-lakh mark with a spike of 96,424 new cases and 1,174 deaths in the last 24 hours, said Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Friday.
A total of 52,14,678 cases have been reported in the country which includes 10,17,754 active cases, 41,12,552 cured/discharged/migrated and 84,372 deaths.
As many as 87,472 active cases have recovered and been discharged in the past 24 hours from home/facility supervised care and hospitals, said Ministry.
"India has been consistently reporting a very high level of daily recoveries of more than 70,000 for the past 11 days. The Recovery Rate has further escalated to 78.86 per cent today. Recovered Cases are 4.04 times the number of active Cases as recoveries outnumber the latter by 30,94,797," it said.
Maharashtra remains the worst-affected as it reported 21,656 new coronavirus cases, 22,078 recoveries and 405 deaths on Friday, taking total cases to 11,67,496 including 8,34,432 recoveries, 31,791 deaths and 3,00,887 active cases, stated Health Department.
The total number of COVID-19 cases in Delhi rose to 2,38,828 with 4,127 new cases and 30 deaths reported on Friday. The numbers of active and recovered cases are 32,250 and 2,01,671 respectively. The death toll is at 4,907, stated Delhi Government.
Karnataka reported 8,626 new COVID-19 cases, 10,949 discharges and 179 deaths on Friday, taking total number of cases to 5,02,982 including 1,01,129 active cases, 3,94,026 discharges and 7,808 deaths. 3,623 cases reported in Bengaluru, said State Health Department.
As many as 5,488 new COVID-19 cases, 5,525 discharges, and 67 deaths reported in Tamil Nadu on Friday. The total number of positive cases now at 5,30,908 including 46,506 active cases, 4,75,717 discharged cases, and 8,685 deaths, said State Health Department.
Kerala reported 4,167 fresh COVID-19 cases, taking the total number of active cases till date to 35,724. The number of recovered cases so far is 90,089, Kerala Government said on Friday
A total of 6,584 new COVID-19 cases, 6,806 recovered cases, and 98 deaths reported in the last 24 hours in Uttar Pradesh. The total number of positive cases in the state stands at 3,42,788 till date, including 2,70,094 recoveries, 67,825 active cases, and 4,869 deaths so far, Uttar Pradesh government said on Friday.
West Bengal on Friday reported 3,192 new COVID-19 cases and 59 deaths, taking total cases to 2,18,772 including 1,90,021 discharges, 24,509 active cases, and 4,242 deaths, said State Health Department.
Punjab on Friday reported 2,817 new COVID-19 cases, 2,645 recoveries, and 62 deaths. The total number of cases in the state stands at 92,833 till date, including 21,662 active cases, 68,463 discharged cases, and 2,708 deaths, said State Health Department.
Jammu and Kashmir reported 1,330 new COVID-19 cases, 784 recoveries, and 15 deaths on Friday, taking total cases to 61,041 including 39,305 recoveries and 966 deaths, stated Jammu and Kashmir administration.
As many as 596 new COVID-19 cases, 470 recoveries, and 8 deaths reported in Goa in the last 24 hours. Goa's positive cases tally rises to 27,379 so far, including 5,730 active cases, 21,314 recovered cases, and 335 deaths till date, said State Health Department on Friday.
"There is a possibility of a situation created by COVID-19 returning to normal by the middle of next year even if a vaccine is not developed by then," Dr Sanjay Rai, Professor in Community Medicine Department at AIIMS here, has said.
"By mid-next year, there's a possibility of normalcy even if vaccine comes or not. There is always the natural end of any pandemic so it (COVID-19) will end too. It can happen in three ways - if we find a vaccine, if we give effective treatment or natural infection covers it. Only these three ways can end the infection. Today we do not have a vaccine or any effective treatment. If a vaccine does not come it will naturally end. When people will develop natural immunity, the virus will naturally end and it depends on our strategy," Dr Rai told ANI.
Dr Rai said phase 2 clinical trial for the COVID-19 vaccine is underway in India with a good sample size of more than 600 motivated volunteers. "Any vaccine will come by mid-next year, anywhere in the world, if everything goes as planned," he added. (ANI)