Fight against virus can be won if it is defeated in 10 states: Modi

India will emerge victorious in the fight against the pandemic if the virus is defeated in the 10 states which account for over 80 percent of active Covid-19 cases, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said today.

During a video conference with chief ministers and representatives of the 10 states, including West Bengal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu, Modi said the recovery rate across India has gone up which meant that the government's efforts have proved to be effective.

"Eighty percent of active (coronavirus) cases are from 10 states. A view has emerged that if we defeat coronavirus in these 10 states, the entire country will emerge victorious," he said.

"It has emerged that there is an urgent need to ramp up testing in Bihar, Gujarat, UP, West Bengal and Telangana states," the PM added.

Modi said it was a matter of satisfaction that the average fatality rate in India has been going down and noted that it has been very low compared to the world average.

"The target of bringing down the fatality rate below 1% can be achieved soon," he said.

"Our experience so far is that containment, contact tracing and surveillance are the most effective weapons against the pandemic," the PM said adding that experts are of the view that if positive cases are identified within 72 hours of onset, then infection slows down to great extent.

The PM also noted that the number of daily tests in India has reached almost seven lakh and is increasing continuously which has helped in early detection and containment.

The average fatality rate in the country is amongst the lowest in the world and is continuously going down.

Covid-19 cases in India dipped below 55,000 in a single day today after the country recorded over 60,000 cases daily for four days prior to that, according to the health ministry data.

With the fresh cases, India's total Covid-19 tally rose to 22.68 lakh today while the recoveries have surged to 15,83,489, pushing the recovery rate to 69.80 percent.