India logs 16,862 new COVID-19 cases, 379 deaths in past 24 hours; active infections lowest in 216 days

New Delhi: India logged 16,862 new coronavirus infections  taking the total tally of COVID-19 cases to 3,40,37,592, while the active cases declined to 2,03,678, the lowest in 216 days, according to the Union health ministry data updated on Friday. The death toll climbed to 4,51,814 with 379 fresh fatalities, according to the data updated at 8 am. The daily rise in new coronavirus infections has been below 30,000 for 21 straight days and less than 50,000 daily new cases have been reported for 110 consecutive days now. The active cases comprise 0.60 percent of the total infections, the lowest since March 2020, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 98.07 percent, the highest since March 2020, the ministry said. A decrease of 2,908 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of  24 hours. As many as 11,80,148  tests were conducted on Thursday taking the total cumulative tests conducted so far for detection of COVID-19 in the country to 58,88,44,673. The daily positivity rate was recorded at 1.43 percent. It has been less than three percent for last 46 days. The weekly positivity rate was recorded at 1.42 percent. It has been below three percent for the last 112 days, according to the ministry. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 3,33,82,100, 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 97.14 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 379 new fatalities include 174 from Haryana, 96 from Kerala and 35 from Maharashtra. Haryana added the death figures after the report of the State Death Audit Committee, the ministry said. A total of 4,51,814 deaths have been reported so far in the country including 1,39,705 from Maharashtra, 37,922 from Karnataka, 35,853 from Tamil Nadu, 26,667 from Kerala, 25,089 from Delhi, 22,897 from Uttar Pradesh and 18,945 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.