India logs 2,259 new COVID-19 cases, 20 deaths in last 24 hours

India recorded 2,259 new cases of COVID-19 and 20 deaths in the last 24 hours, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) informed on Friday morning. The fresh infections reported were 4.44 per cent lower than 2,582 cases logged on Thursday. With the new cases reported on Friday, the total tally of COVID-19 cases in India has now risen to 4,31,31,822 (4 crore 31 lakh 31 thousand 8 hundred and 22). The daily COVID-19 positivity rate was at 0.50 per cent on Friday, while the weekly positivity rate was at 0.53 per cent. The country now has 15,044 active cases of COVID-19. There was a decrease of 375 cases in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours. The active cases comprise 0.03 per cent of the total infections, the health ministry informed. So far, 5,24,323 (5 lakh 24 thousand 3 hundred and 23) people have died of COVID-19 in India. In the last 24 hours, 2,614 patients got recuperated from COVID-19, increasing total coronavirus recoveries in the country to 4,25,92,455 (4 crore 25 lakh 92 thousand 4 hundred and 55). The national COVID-19 recovery rate was 98.75 per cent, the health ministry data stated. The cumulative doses administered in the country so far under the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive has exceeded 191.96 crore. According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), 4,51,179 (4 lakh 51 thousand 1 hundred and 79) samples were tested for COVID-19 in the country in the last 24 hours. Since the start of the pandemic, 84,58,55,351 (84 crore 58 lakh 55 thousand 3 hundred and 51) samples have been tested for coronavirus in India. The nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive in India was started on 16 January, 2021, and since then more than 191.96 crore vaccine doses have been administered. As per the health ministry, 15,12,766 (15 lakh 12 thousand 7 hundred and 66) doses of COVID-19 vaccines were given to people in the country in the last 24 hours. The COVID-19 vaccination drive in India has been ramped up through availability of more vaccines, advance visibility of vaccine availability to states and Union Territories for enabling better planning by them, and streamlining the vaccine supply chain. As part of the nationwide vaccination drive, Government of India has been supporting the states and UTs by providing them COVID Vaccines free of cost. According to the latest data by the health ministry, more than 193.53 crore vaccine doses have been provided to states/UTs so far through the Indian government (free of cost channel) and through direct state procurement category. Over 16.72 crore balance and unutilised COVID-19 vaccine doses are still available with the states/UTs to be administered. Read all the Latest News , Trending News ,  Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.