India clocks 45,083 new COVID infections, 460 deaths; active cases rise for fifth consecutive day

India added 45,083 new coronavirus infections taking the total tally of COVID-19 cases to 3,26,95,030, while active cases registered an increase for the fifth consecutive day, according to the Union health ministry data updated on Sunday. The number of new cases has been above the 40,000 mark for the fourth day. In the last 24 hours, active cases increased by 8,783, taking the active caseload to 3,68,558, which comprises 1.13 percent of the total infections. Five states accounted for 89.17 percent of the total cases, with Kerala contributing 31,265 cases in the past 24 hours, followed by Maharashtra with 4,831 cases, Tamil Nadu with 1,551 cases, Andhra Pradesh with 1,321 cases and Karnataka with 1,229 cases. Meanwhile, 10 states/UTs have reported a rise in active cases. The difference between new cases reported in the last seven days and preceding seven days in India is +17 percent; the world average is at -2 percent. The total active cases in Kerala has been above the 2 lakh mark after 89 days. Kerala accounts for 55.74 percent  of India’s total active caseload and 69.35 percent of new cases. A total of 35,840 patients recovered from the infection in the past 24 hours, taking India’s recovery rate to 97.53 percent. The total recoveries stand at 3,18,88,642 across the country. Meanwhile, the death toll has climbed to 4,37,830 with 460 fresh fatalities, according to the data updated at 8 am. The number of fatalities have been above 400 for the fifth day. Among the new fatalities Kerala reported 153 new deaths, Maharashtra 126 and Odisha 68. India has administered a total of 73,85,866 vaccine doses in the past 24 hours, which brings the total tally of doses administered to 63,09,17,927. India has administered over 16 crore vaccinations in August, including 4.8 crore in the last six days. A total of 17,55,327 samples were tested in the last 24 hours. The test positivity rate was registered at 2.57 percent (2.66 percent the previous day). The test positivity rate has been below three percent for the 64th day. 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. With inputs from agencies