India logs 18,870 new infections, 378 deaths; active cases lowest in 194 days

India registered 18,870 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, which is 0.4 percent higher than yesterday. With this, the country’s case tally has touched 3,37,16,451. The country also reported  378 deaths, taking the total number of fatalities to 447,751. The total active cases of COVID-19 in India dipped down to 2,82,560, the lowest in 194 days, the health ministry data showed. Active cases account for less than 1 percent of total cases, currently, at 0.90 percent. The total recovery rate is at around 97.81 percent and the total number of recoveries so far is 3,29,86,180. Meanwhile,  87.66 crore vaccine doses have been administered so far under the nationwide vaccination drive, with 54,13,332 doses being administered in last 24 hours. The top five states which have registered the maximum number of cases are Kerala with 11,196 cases, followed by Tamil Nadu with 1,630 cases, Mizoram with 1,380 cases, Andhra Pradesh with 771 cases and West Bengal with 708 cases. 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 2 crores on 4 May and 3 crores on 23 June this year.