India logs 1.6 lakh new COVID-19 cases in last 24 hours; Omicron tally rises to 4,461

New Delhi: India logged 1,68,063 new coronavirus infections taking the total tally of COVID-19 cases to 3,58,75,790 which includes 4,461 cases of the Omicron variant, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Tuesday. The active cases rose to 8,21,446, the highest in 208 days, while the death toll climbed to 4,84,213 with 277 fresh fatalities, the data updated at 8 am stated. Of the total 4,461 cases of the Omicron variant, 1,711 people have recovered or migrated so far. Maharashtra recorded the maximum number of 1,247 cases followed by Rajasthan at 645, Delhi 546, Karnataka 479 and Kerala 350. The active cases comprise 2.29 percent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate decreased to 96.36 percent, the ministry said. An increase of 97,827 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours. India’s COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 2020, 30 lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on September 5 and 50 lakh on September 16. It went past 60 lakh on September 28, 70 lakh on October 11, crossed 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20 and surpassed the one-crore mark on December 19. India crossed the grim milestone of two crore on May 4 and three crore on June 23.