India's Covid-19 count crosses 5 lakh-mark after 18552 new cases

New Delhi: India's Covid-19 tally on Saturday surpassed the five lakh-mark after  registering the highest single-day spike of 18552 new infections in the past 24 hours.

The total confirmed cases have now reached 508953, as per the Union Health Ministry update.

Casualties across the nation due to the virus have reached 15685 after 384 more lives were lost since Friday.

Improvement in the recovery rate continued, as discharged and cured cases now rose to 295881 while the active cases in the country at present are 197387.

The recoveries are now 98494 more as compared to the active cases.So far, 7996707 cumulative samples have been tested for COVID-19 till Friday, Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) said.