India reports 8,635 new COVID-19 cases in a day, lowest single-day rise in eight months

New Delhi: India registered 8,635 fresh coronavirus infections in a day, the lowest in eight months, while the daily fatalities fell below 100 after almost nine months, said the Union health ministry on Tuesday. The country’s COVID-19 tally stands at 1,07,66,245 and the toll increased to 1,54,486 with 94 new fatalities, the data updated at 8 am showed. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 1,04,48,406 pushing the national recovery rate to 97.05 percent, while the COVID-19 case fatality rate has dropped to 1.43 percent. The COVID-19 active caseload remained below two lakh for the 14th consecutive day. There are 1,63,353 active coronavirus infections in the country which comprise 1.52 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), 19,77,52,057 samples have been tested up to 1 February with 6,59,422 samples being tested on Monday alone. The 94 new fatalities include 27 from Maharashtra, 17 from Kerala, seven from Tamil Nadu, six from West Bengal, five from Chhattisgarh, four each from Uttarakhand, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, and three each from Delhi, Karnataka and Puducherry. A total of 1,54,486 deaths have been reported so far in the country including 51,109 from Maharashtra, 12,363 from Tamil Nadu, 12,220 from Karnataka, 10,856 from Delhi, 10,179 from West Bengal, 8,662 from Uttar Pradesh and 7,154 from Andhra Pradesh. 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.