India adds 43,263 new COVID cases, 338 deaths; recovery rate at 97.48%

New Delhi: India recorded 43,263 new coronavirus infections taking the total tally of COVID-19 cases to 3,31,39,981, while the active cases increased to 3,93,614, according to the Union health ministry data updated on Thursday. The death toll climbed to 4,41,749 with 338 fresh fatalities, according to the data updated at 8 am.

The active cases comprise 1.19 percent of the total infections and the national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 97.48 percent, the ministry said. An increase of 2,358 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours.

Less than 50,000 daily cases have been reported for 74 consecutive days. As many as 18,17,639 tests were conducted on Wednesday taking the total cumulative tests conducted so far for detection of COVID-19 in the country to 53,68,17,243.

The daily positivity rate was recorded as 2.38 percent. It has been less than three percent for last 10 days. The weekly positivity rate was recorded at 2.43 percent. It has been below three percent for the last 76 days, according to the ministry. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 3,23,04,618, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.33 percent. The cumulative doses administered in the country so far under the nationwide vaccination drive has exceeded 71.65 crore.

India’s COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on 7 August , 2020, 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 11, 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 338 new fatalities include 181 from Kerala, and 65 from Maharashtra. A total of 4,41,749 deaths have been reported so far in the country including 1,37,962 from Maharashtra, 37,458 from Karnataka, 35,073 from Tamil Nadu, 25,083 from Delhi, 22,863 from Uttar Pradesh, 22,001 from Kerala and 18,531 from West Bengal.

The 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.