India records 54,366 new COVID-19 cases, 690 deaths in a day; active cases below 7 lakh
The number of coronavirus infections reported in a span of 24 hours remained below 60,000 for the fifth consecutive day on Friday as India's caseload went past 77 lakh, while recoveries have crossed 69 lakh, according to data updated by the Union Health Ministry. The active cases of coronavirus infection remained below seven lakh for the first time in months. 

The COVID-19 caseload mounted to 7,761,312 with 54,366 new infections being reported in a day, while the death toll climbed to 1,17,306 with 690 more fatalities, the data updated at 8 am showed. There are 6,95,509 active cases of coronavirus infection in the country which accounts for 8.96 per cent of the total caseload, the data stated.

A total of 69,48,497 people have recuperated from the disease so far pushing the national recovery rate to 89.52 per cent, while the case fatality rate stood at 1.51 per cent.

According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), a cumulative total of 10,01,13,085 samples have been tested up to October 21, of which 14,42,722 were tested on Thursday.

Meanwhile, India has crossed the 10 crore-mark in conducting tests for the detection of COVID-19 as on Thursday with average testing of more than 10 lakh samples per day in the last 17 days, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) said.

India's Covid-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 30 lakh on August 23 and 40 lakh on September 5. It went past 50 lakh on September 16,  60 lakh on September 28 and crossed 70 lakh on October 11.