India logged 16,862 new coronavirus infections taking the total tally of COVID-19 cases to 3,40,37,592, while the active cases declined to 2,03,678, the lowest in 216 days, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Friday.
The death toll climbed to 4,51,814 with 379 fresh fatalities, according to the data updated at 8 am.
The daily rise in new coronavirus infections has been below 30,000 for 21 straight days and less than 50,000 daily new cases have been reported for 110 consecutive days now.
The active cases comprise 0.60 per cent of the total infections, the lowest since March 2020, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 98.07 per cent, the highest since March 2020, the ministry said.
A decrease of 2,908 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours.
As many as 11,80,148 tests were conducted on Thursday taking the total cumulative tests conducted so far for detection of COVID-19 in the country to 58,88,44,673.
The daily positivity rate was recorded at 1.43 per cent. It has been less than three per cent for last 46 days. The weekly positivity rate was recorded at 1.42 per cent. It has been below three per cent for the last 112 days, according to the ministry.
The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 3,33,82,100, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.33 per cent.
The cumulative doses administered in the country so far under the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive has exceeded 97.14 crore.
India’s COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 2020, 30 lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on September 5 and 50 lakh on September 16. It went past 60 lakh on September 28, 70 lakh on October 11, crossed 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20 and surpassed the one-crore mark on December 19.
India crossed the grim milestone of two crore on May 4 and three crore on June 23.
The 379 new fatalities include 174 from Haryana, 96 from Kerala and 35 from Maresharashtra.
Haryana added the death figures after the report of the State Death Audit Committee, the ministry said.
A total of 4,51,814 deaths have been reported so far in the country including 1,39,705 from Maharashtra, 37,922 from Karnataka, 35,853 from Tamil Nadu, 26,667 from Kerala, 25,089 from Delhi, 22,897 from Uttar Pradesh and 18,945 from West Bengal.
The ministry stressed that more than 70 per cent of the deaths occurred due to comorbidities.
“Our figures are being reconciled with the Indian Council of Medical Research,” the ministry said on its website, adding that state-wise distribution of figures is subject to further verification and reconciliation. ( PTI )
