NEW DELHI, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- India's COVID-19 tally reached 2,589,682 on Sunday as 49,980 deaths have taken place so far across the country, according to the latest health ministry data.
As many as 63,490 new COVID-19 cases were detected, and 944 people died due to the virus in the country in the past 24 hours.
There are still 677,444 active COVID-19 cases in India, while a total of 1,862,258 people have been successfully cured and discharged from hospitals across the country.
The Recovery Rate of COVID-19 cases has risen to nearly 72 percent, even as the Death Rate has come down to below 2 percent, the ministry said.
Over the past weeks, India has ramped up the testing of samples. Till Saturday a total of 29,309,703 samples has been tested, out of which 746,608 samples were tested on Saturday alone, said the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).
Indian scientists have been working on developing COVID-19 vaccine. Prime Minister Narendra Modi stated in his Independence Day speech on Saturday that as many as three vaccines were in different stages of trials.
He said that once scientists gave the green signal, the country would take up mass production of the vaccines and ensure that every Indian national gets access to the vaccine. Enditem
