India records over 48,000 COVID-19 cases, 1,000 deaths in 24 hours

New Delhi: India added 48,786 new cases of coronavirus taking the total tally to 3,04,11,634, while the national recovery rate improved to 96.97 per cent, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Thursday. The COVID-19 death toll rose to 3,99,459 with 1,005 fresh fatalities. According to the data published at 7 am, cumulatively 33.57 crore vaccine doses have been administered so far under the Nationwide Vaccination Drive. The active cases have further declined to 5,23,257 comprising 1.72 percent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has improved to 96.97 percent. As many as 19,21,450 tests were conducted on Wednesday taking the total cumulative tests conducted so far for detection of COVID-19 in the country to 41,20,21,494. The daily positivity rate was recorded at 2.54 percent . It has been less than five per cent for 24 consecutive days, the ministry said, adding the weekly positivity rate has declined to 2.64 percent. Recoveries continue to outnumber daily new cases for the 49th consecutive day. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 2,94,88,918, while the case fatality rate stands at 1.31 percent, the data stated. India’s COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on 7 August, 30 lakh on 23 August, 40 lakh on 5 September and 50 lakh on 16 September. It went past 60 lakh on 28 September, 70 lakh on 11 October, crossed 80 lakh on 29 October, 90 lakh on 20 November and surpassed the one-crore mark on 19 December. India crossed the grim milestone of two crore on 4 May and three crore on 23 June. The 1,005 new fatalities include 221 from Uttarakhand, 142 from Kerala, 141 from Maharashtra, 113 from Tamil Nadu and 111 from Karnataka. A total of 3,99,459 deaths have been reported so far in the country including 1,21,945 from Maharashtra, 35,040 from Karnataka, 32,619 from Tamil Nadu, 24,977 from Delhi, 22,591 from Uttar Pradesh, 17,708 from West Bengal and 16,052 from Punjab. The health ministry stressed that more than 70 percent 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.