The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Thursday said that the doubling time of coronavirus cases in India rose to 70.4 days from 25.5 days in mid-August.

The health ministry added that the sharp increase in doubling time was an indicator of a substantial decrease in the number of daily new cases.

A chart tweeted by the Union ministry showed that India’s doubling rate on August 18 was 27.7 days. It rose to 32 days on August 30 and 35.6 days on September 17. On October 2, the doubling rate had reached 51.4 days. It went up to 70.4 days in less than two weeks.

“This [the fall in doubling rate] is result of the Centre-led strategies and the selfless dedication of doctors, paramedics, frontline workers and all other Covid-19 warriors,” the health ministry added.

India coronavirus tally rose to 73,07,097 on Thursday as it reported 67,708 new cases in the last 24 hours. The country’s toll rose by 680 to 1,11,266. India’s active cases stood at 8,12,390 while the recoveries reached 63,83,441. India’s active cases stayed below 9 lakh for seven straight days. India’s recovery rate stood at 87.05% while the death rate was 1.53%.

India is seeing a downward trend in daily cases. On Tuesday, the country had reported 55,342 new cases, the lowest since mid-August.

Follow today’s live updates on the coronavirus crisis here.

However, the government and experts have expressed concern that seasonal diseases and festivals may exacerbate India’s coronavirus crisis.

On Tuesday, the Centre had issued an advisory to the states for managing seasonal illnesses along with the Covid-19 crisis. It said that there was an increase in instances of coronavirus patients contracting seasonal infections. The government said that tests must be done to detect both the coronavirus and seasonal diseases for timely diagnosis.

Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan had last week urged people to celebrate festivals at home and not organise huge gatherings.

Globally, the coronavirus has infected more than 3.84 crore people and killed over 10.91 lakh, according to the Johns Hopkins University. The worldwide recoveries crossed 2.65 crore.