NEW DELHI — As many as 36,145 patients have recuperated from COVID-19 in a span of 24 hours, the highest recorded in a day, pushing the recovery rate to 63.92 percent, the Union Health Ministry said on Sunday.

The COVID-19 case fatality rate has further dropped to 2.31 percent, the ministry said.

The total recoveries have surged to 885,576 so far, as India’s COVID-19 tally climbed to 1.38 million on Sunday.

More patients are recovering and their total number exceeds active coronavirus infections by 417,694. “Recovered cases are 1.89 times the active cases,” the ministry said.

Besides, for the first time a record number of more than 440,000 tests have been conducted in a single day. Also, the number of tests for detection of the COVID-19 has crossed the 16 million mark in the country.

“With 442,263 samples being tested in the last 24 hours, the number of Test Per Million (TPM) has further increased to 11,805 and cumulative testing to 1,62,91,331,” the ministry said.

“For the first time, the government labs have set a new record of testing 362,153 samples. The private labs have also scaled a new high of 79,878 samples tested in a single day,” it said in the statement.

The Union government has advised all state and union territory governments to keep up with and effectively implement the strategy of “test, track and treat”.

The aggressive testing, along with ramped up hospital infrastructure by combining public and private sector efforts, has enabled early identification and prompt triaging of COVID-19 patients leading to lower fatalities.

“As a result, the case fatality rate is progressively falling and currently, it is 2.31 percent. India has one of the lowest fatality rates in the world,” the ministry said.

With 48,661 people testing positive for coronavirus infection in a day, India’s COVID-19 tally climbed to 13,85,522 on Sunday, while the death toll rose to 32,063 with 705 new fatalities, the data updated at 8 a.m. IST showed. — Agencies