India reports 14,545 new COVID-19 infections taking total over 1.06 cr; active cases below 1.89 lakh

New Delhi: India’s COVID-19 caseload rose to 1,06,25,428 with 14,545 more people testing positive for the novel coronavirus in past 24 hours, said the Union health ministry on Friday. The toll increased to 1,53,032 with 163 daily new fatalities, the data updated at 8 am showed. The number of people who have recuperated from the viral infection surged to 1,02,83,708 pushing the national COVID-19 recovery rate to 96.78 percent, while the case fatality rate stands at 1.44 percent. The COVID-19 active caseload remained below 2 lakh for the third consecutive day. There are 1,88,688 active coronavirus infections in the country which comprise 1.78 percent of the total caseload,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. According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), 19,01,48,024 COVID-19 samples have been tested up to 21 January with 8,00,242 samples being tested on Thursday alone.