New Delhi: India’s COVID-19 tally on Friday witnessed a record spike of 96,551 fresh cases, while 1,209 more people succumbed to the contagion, the Union Health Ministry said. The escalation has pushed country’s overall pandemic tally past the 45 lakh-mark with the figure currently standing at 45,62,415. The toll has now zoomed past 76k-mark, with 76,271 lives being claimed by the virus till date. The fatality rate currently stands at 1.67 per cent. Active case load on the country has also increased, and presently the country houses 9,43,480 active cases. Cured cases from the Novel Coronavirus disease since Thursday were 70,880, taking the total recoveries pan India to 35,742,663 so far with the recovery rate now at 77.65 per cent. According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), in the past 24 hours, 11,63,542 samples were tested, taking the total tests conducted to 5,40,97,975 till date. Globally, the United States of America remains at the top spot with over 62 lakh case count so far, followed by India at number two and Brazil at the third spot.