India logs 14,306 new COVID-19 cases, 443 fresh fatalities; number of vaccines administered crosses 102 crore

New Delhi: India logged 14,306 new COVID-19 cases, taking the virus tally to 3,41,89,774, while the active cases declined to 1,67,695, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Monday. The death toll climbed to 4,54,712 with 443 fresh fatalities, according to the data updated at 8 am. Kerala has reconciled 363 fatalities from the previous period, officials said, adding that 71 deaths have been reported from the state in the last 24 hours. The daily rise in new coronavirus infections has been below 30,000 for 31 straight days and less than 50,000 daily new cases have been reported for 120 consecutive days now. The active cases comprise 0.49 percent of the total infections, the lowest since March 2020, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 98.18 percent, the highest since March 2020, the ministry said. A decrease of 4,899 cases has been recorded in the total active number of COVID-19 cases in a span of 24 hours. The daily positivity rate was recorded at 1.43 percent and the weekly positivity rate was also recorded at 1.24 percent, according to the ministry. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 3,35,67,367, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.33 percent. The cumulative doses administered in the country so far under the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive has exceeded 102.27 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 443 new fatalities include 363 from Kerala, 18 from Maharashtra and 15 from Tamil Nadu. A total of 4,54,712 deaths have been reported so far in the country, including 1,40,016 from Maharashtra, 38,007 from Karnataka, 36019 from Tamil Nadu, 28,592 from Kerala, 25,091 from Delhi, 22,899 from Uttar Pradesh and 19,055 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.