India records 68,898 fresh Covid-19 cases, 983 deaths; tally breaches 2.9 million-mark

India recorded a spike in coronavirus cases again on Friday morning after the country recorded 68,898 new cases and 983 deaths in the last 24 hours, according to Union health ministry data. India’s tally now stands at 29,05,824. Out of these, 6,92,028 are active cases and 21,58,947 recovered, according to the health ministry.

The death toll climbed to 54,849 with 983 people succumbing to the disease in a span of 24 hours, the data updated at 8 am showed. More than 9 lakh COVID-19 tests conducted in the last 24 hours, according to the Health Ministry.

Meanwhile, the overall number of global coronavirus cases has topped 22.5 million, while the deaths have increased to over 792,000, according to the Johns Hopkins University. As of Friday morning, the total number of cases stood at 22,593,363 and the fatalities rose to 792,396, the University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) revealed in its latest update.

In terms of cases, India ranks third (2,836,925), and is followed by Russia (939,833), South Africa (599,940), Peru (558,420), Mexico (543,806), Colombia (502,178), Chile (391,849), Spain (377,906), Iran (352,558), the UK (324,196), Argentina (320,884), Saudi Arabia (303,973), Pakistan (290,958), Bangladesh (287,959), France (256,534), Italy (256,118), Turkey (254,520), Germany (231,292), Iraq (192,797), Philippines (178,022), Indonesia (147,211), Canada (125,625), Qatar (116,224), Ecuador (105,508), Bolivia (105,050), Kazakhstan (103,815) and Ukraine (100,810), the CSSE figures showed.

State-wise coronavirus cases in India