Health workers wearing protective kits collect samples from passengers for COVID-19 tests at a bus terminus in Delhi, India, Dec. 19, 2020. (Photo by Partha Sarkar/Xinhua)
NEW DELHI, Dec. 19 (Xinhua) -- India's COVID-19 tally surpassed 10 million-mark and the death toll crossed 145,000-mark on Saturday.
India's COVID-19 tally on Saturday reached 10,004,599 as 25,152 new cases were registered during the past 24 hours, said the latest data from the federal health ministry.
According to the data, the death toll mounted to 145,136 as 347 COVID-19 patients have died since Friday morning.
The active caseload stood at 308,751 while 9,550,712 people have been discharged so far after proper medical treatment across the country.
As per a trend noted in the rise of COVID-19 cases, each phase of a million cases till 5 million was faster than the preceding one, however this rate slowed down subsequently.
The latest one million cases took as many as 29 days, the longest duration since the first million cases were registered in the country.
The official data released by the federal health ministry on Saturday said that the country's active caseload was on a "steady decline," as there was an exponential rise in testing, while the national positivity rate dropped to 6.25 percent.
Total COVID-19 tests conducted so far across the country crossed the 160 million-mark on Saturday.
"India has reported more daily recoveries than the daily new cases during the past 24 hours. The trend of more daily recoveries than the daily cases has led to a continuous contraction of India's Active Caseload," said the health ministry's data.
It added that while 25,152 persons were found to be COVID-19 positive in the country in the past 24 hours, as many as 29,885 new recoveries were registered during the same period.
Comprehensive and widespread testing on a sustained basis has resulted in bringing down the positivity rate. The cumulative positivity rate stands at 6.25 percent as of Saturday, added the data.
English daily "Hindustan Times" reported on Saturday that nearly nine in every 10 persons who died due to the pandemic till mid-December were aged above 45 years. "People under the age of 45 years accounted for 60 percent of all COVID-19 infections in the country, but constituted only 12 percent of total deaths," it added. Enditem
