New Delhi, Sep 29 (IANS): With a spike of 70,589 coronavirus cases and 776 deaths in 24 hours, India's tally on Tuesday breached the 61 lakh-mark with a total of 61,45,291 cases.

Out of these, 9,47,576 are currently active; 51,01,397 have been discharged, while 96,318 lost the battle against the viral disease.

On July 17, India had logged 10 lakh cases, which then doubled to 20 lakh on August 7. The country added another 10 lakh on August 23 and went past 40 lakh on September 5.

In 11 days, it added another 10 lakh cases thus taking the total to 50 lakh cases.

Thirteen days later the tally has mounted to 61 lakh.

While the recovery rate stands at 82.58 per cent, one of the highest in the world; the fatality rate has come down to 1.57 per cent, the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said.

Maharashtra continues to be the worst-hit with a total of 13,39,232 cases, including 35,571 deaths; followed by Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.

According to the data from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), 11,42,811 sample tests were conducted across the country in a single day on Monday, taking the total number of samples tested so far to 7,31,10,041.

On the global front, India rallies behind the US, which has recorded 7,147,751 cases and 2,05,062 deaths. As of Tuesday morning, the total number of cases stood at 33,273,720 and the fatalities rose to 10,00,825.