New Delhi: Only 6.39 percent COVID-19 cases need hospitalisation, which includes oxygen, ventilator or ICU support, according to the Union Health Ministry, here on Wednesday.

In a press release, Joint Secretary (Health) Lav Agarwal said of the 61,149 active cases, around 2.94 percent needed oxygen support, 3 percent ICU and 0.45 percent ventilator support.

Stressing the COVID-19 recovery rate, Agarwal said, it "has been on continuous upwards climb and is more than 39.62 percent. When the first phase of lockdown started, the recovery rate was around 7.1 percent. During the second phase of lockdown, it was 11.42 percent and rose to 26.59 percent. Today, the recovery rate is 39.62 percent."

The efforts for early identification of COVID-19 cases had helped in having a better recovery rate, he said.

Comparing global statistics on COVID-19 with India, Agarwal said, "The mortality rate in India is 0.2 cases per lakh population against the global 4.2 cases. India has recorded 7.9 cases per lakh population against 62 for the world."

The number of confirmed cases in India is 1,06,750 and 3,303 people have succumbed to the infection. 42,298 COVID-19 patients have been cured. "India battle against COVID-19 has to be people-driven", said Agarwal (IANS)