India adds 44,658 new infections to COVID tally, 496 deaths; recovery rate at 97.63%

New Delhi: With 44,658 people testing positive for coronavirus infection in a day, India’s total tally of COVID-19 cases has increased to 3,26,03,188, while the active cases rose to 3,44,899, according to the Union health ministry data updated on Friday. The death toll climbed to 4,36,861 with 496 fresh fatalities, according to the data updated at 8 am. The active cases comprise 1.03 percent of the total infections while the national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 97.63 percent, the ministry said. An increase of 11,174 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours. As many as 18,24,931 tests were conducted on Thursday taking the total cumulative tests conducted so far for detection of COVID-19 in the country to 51,49,54,309. The daily positivity rate was recorded at 2.45 percent. It has been less than three percent for the last 32 days. The weekly positivity rate was recorded at 2.10 percent. It has been below three percent for the last 63 days, according to the ministry. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 3,18,21,428 and the case fatality rate stands at 1.34 percent, the data stated. Cumulatively, 61.22 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered under the nationwide vaccination drive till Friday morning. 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 496 new fatalities include 162 from Kerala and 159 from Maharashtra. A total of 4,36,861 deaths have been reported so far in the country including 1,36,730 from Maharashtra, 37,231 from Karnataka, 34,814 from Tamil Nadu, 25,080 from Delhi, 22,794 from Uttar Pradesh, 20,134 from Kerala and 18,402 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.