The number of daily deaths has been falling steadily, from 1,201 on September 12 to 551

India's COVID-19 Case Fatality Rate (CFR) has fallen below 1.5% and the number of deaths per million stands at a very low level of 88 deaths per million.

According to the data released by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Saturday morning, India's CFR now stands at 1.49% in line with the progressive decline shown over the past few weeks.

While India has one of the lowest fatality rates in the world, there has also been a steady and consistent decline in the number of daily deaths. During the last 24 hours, 551 deaths were reported in the country.

Twenty-three states and Union Territories (UTs) have a CFR lower than the national average. The lowest figures are those for Mizoram (0.04%), Daman Diu and Dadra & Nagar Haveli (0.06%) and Arunachal Pradesh (0.25%). Even Kerala, which has reported a spike in cases in recent cases, has a CRF of 0.34%.

Among the bigger states, Bihar has a CFR of 0.5%, Telangana has a rate of 0.56%, while Andhra Pradesh has reported a figure of 0.81%. Even Uttar Pradesh has reported a CFR of 1.46%, lower than the national average, the ministry said.

The number of daily deaths has been falling steadily - it has dropped from 1,201 on September 12 to 551 during the 24-hour period ending Saturday morning.

Ministry data shows that 65% of the total deaths have neem recorded only in 5 States, with Maharashtra contributing the maximum of over 36% to the total deaths. It is followed by Karnataka (9.16%), Tamil Nadu (9.12%), Uttar Pradesh (5.76%), and West Bengal 5.58%).

This data can further be expanded to conclude that 10 states and UTs account for 85% of the total COVID-19 deaths in India.

When it comes to patients being cured or discharged from hospitals, 59,454 new recoveries were added in last 24 hour whereas the number of new cases was 48,268. With this, the total number of recoveries has crossed 74 lakh and stands at 7,432,829.

The higher number of single day recoveries is also reflected in the continuous increase in the national recovery rate, which is at present 91.34%.

India continues to report a trend of steadily decreasing active cases. At present, the active cases comprise only 7.16% of the total positive cases of the country standing at 5,82,649. Active cases are below 6 lakh for the second consecutive day.

79% of the new recovered cases were observed to be concentrated in 10 States/UTs .

Karnataka and Maharashtra has contributed the maximum to the single day recoveries with more than 8,000 cases followed by Kerala with more than 7,000 cases.

According to the ministry, the Centre-led strategy of Test, Trace, Track, Treat has focused on effective Containment Strategy, aggressive testing and standardized clinical management protocols based on a comprehensive Standard of Care approach which includes use of anti-coagulants and non-invasive oxygen.

Effective implementation of this strategy by the State and UT governments has resulted in early identification, prompt isolation and timely clinical management of the hospitalized cases. "These have ensured that India’s COVID mortality is kept low and within manageable numbers," the ministry said.