New Delhi, Sep 2 (IANS): The unabated surge of COVID-19 is maintained as the country reported 78,357 fresh coronavirus cases in the past 24-hours mounting the national tally to 37,69,523, revealed Health Ministry data on Wednesday.

With 1,045 more deaths, the toll has climbed to 66,333 so far.

Out of the total confirmed cases, 8,01,282 are active cases, while a total of 29,01,908 have recovered from the virus so far. With 60,868 recoveries in a day, the recovery rate stood at 76.98 per cent while the fatality rate is 1.76 per cent.

Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh are the five states which reported the highest number of cases in the last 24 hours. Maharashtra on Tuesday reported 15,765 fresh coronavirus cases, taking the case tally in the state to 8,08,306.

The Union Health Ministry divided the states and Union territories (UT)s into three categories based on the prevalence of Covid-19 cases. 11 states and UTs fell in the first category where the cumulative Covid-19 cases are up to 10,000. Hilly states and Union territories make up this category like Chandigarh, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Ladakh, and Himachal Pradesh.

The second category included states and UTs where the Covid-19 tally is between 10,000 and 90,000. 12 states and UTs fell in this category including Goa, Jammu and Kashmir, Rajasthan and Kerala.

The third category formed states and UTs where cases are beyond 90,000. 12 major states and UTs make up this category including Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Bihar.

The health ministry said also said that 54 per cent of the total coronavirus cases in India were reported among people between 18 and 44 years of age while patients in 60 years and above bracket account for 51 per cent deaths.

According to the fresh data from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), India conducted 10,12,367 tests in a single day on Tuesday taking the total number of samples tested so far to 4,43,37,201.