India's daily COVID-19 cases drop to 10,064, lowest in nearly 8 months; tally over 1.05 cr

New Delhi: India reported the lowest number of daily coronavirus infections in over seven months with 10,064 new cases, which took the caseload to 1,05,81,837, said the Union health ministry on Tuesday. The country’s COVID-19 toll increased to 1,52,556 as 137 fatalities, the lowest in around eight months, were recorded in a span of 24 hours, the data updated at 8 am showed. The number of people who have recuperated from the novel coronavirus surged to 1,02,28,753, pushing the national COVID-19 recovery rate to 96.66 percent, while the case fatality rate stands at 1.44 percent. The COVID-19 active caseload remained below three lakh. There are 2,00,528 active COVID-19 cases in the country which comprise 1.90 percent of the total caseload, the data stated. India’s COVID-19 tally had crossed 20 lakh 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), 18,78,02,827 samples have been tested up to 18 January with 7,09,791 samples being tested on Monday alone. The 137 new fatalities include 35 from Maharashtra, 17 from Kerala, 10 from West Bengal, nine from Karnataka, and eight each from Delhi and Tamil Nadu. A total of 1,52,556 deaths have been reported so far in the country, including 50,473 from Maharashtra followed by 12,272 from Tamil Nadu, 12,175 from Karnataka,10,754 from Delhi, 10,063 from West Bengal,8,580 from Uttar Pradesh, 7,141 from Andhra Pradesh and 5,509 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.