New Delhi, Oct 26 (IANS): With a fresh spike of 45,148 coronavirus infections and 480 deaths in 24 hours, India's tally on Monday stood at 79,09,959. In a respite, the country logged the lowest new cases since July.

Out of the total Covid-19 cases, 6,53,717 are currently active, 71,37,228 have been discharged, while 1,19,014 lost the battle against the pandemic.

While the recovery rate stands at 90.23 percent, the fatality rate is 1.50 percent, the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare showed on Monday.

"India has crossed landmark milestones in its fight against COVID-19. More than 70 Lakh patients have been cured and discharged so far," the Ministry stated.

Maharashtra continues to be the worst-hit with a total of 16,45,020 cases, including 43,264 deaths; followed by Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi.

According to the data from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), India conducted 9,39,309 sample tests in a single day on Sunday, taking the total number of samples tested so far to 10,34,62,778.