COVID-19: India's reports 43,393 new cases, 911 deaths; active cases fall to 1.49% of total infections

India logged 43,393 new coronavirus infections taking the total tally of COVID-19 cases to 3,07,52,950, while the active cases have declined to 4,58,727, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Friday. The death toll has climbed to 4,05,939 with 911 fresh fatalities. The active cases comprise 1.49 per cent of the total infections and the national COVID-19 recovery rate stands at 97.19 per cent, the data updated at 8 am showed. A decrease of 1,977 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours. As many as 17,90,708 tests were conducted on Thursday taking the total cumulative tests conducted so far for detection of COVID-19 in the country to 42,70,16,605, while the daily positivity rate was recorded at 2.42 per cent. It has been less than three percent for 18 consecutive days, the ministry said, adding the weekly positivity rate has declined to 2.36 per cent, according to the health ministry. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 2,98,88,284, while the case fatality rate stands at 1.32 per cent, the data stated. Cumulative vaccine doses administered so far has reached 36.89 crore under the Nationwide Vaccination Drive. 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. Here are the key data highlights - 43.4k new cases, 911 new deaths, 44.5k new recoveries, 1.97k dip in active cases - Deaths below 1,000 for the 8th consecutive day - New cases below 50,000 for the 12th day - Kerala reports 13.8k new cases, Maharashtra 9.1k, Tamil Nadu 3.2k - Kerala and Maharashtra account for 52.7% of new cases reported in India - Maharastra reports 439 new deaths, Kerala 142, Karnataka 62 - 9 states/UTs report rise in active cases, including 5 North East states - Active cases in Odisha now below 25k. Only 5 states now have more than 25k active cases: Maharashtra, Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh - Difference between new cases reported in the last 7 days and the preceding 7 days is -10% (world average is +10%) - 40.23 lakh new vaccinations. 36.9k crore total. 27.01 lakh received their first dose yesterday, 13.22 lakh second dose - 17.9 lakh new tests. Test positivity rate: 2.42% (2.42% the previous day) - Test positivity rate below 3% for the 18th day - Test positivity rate: Sikkim 17.12%, Mizoram 16.89%, Manipur 13.58%, Kerala 10.36% - COVID-19 cases rising globally. The last 7 days reported 10% more cases than the preceding 7 days. Europe reports 40% more cases