India logs 25,467 new COVID cases, 354 deaths; active cases lowest in 156 days

New Delhi: India added 25,467 new COVID-19 cases, while the active cases declined to 3,19,551, comprising 0.98 percent of the total infections, the lowest since March 2020, according to the Union health ministry data updated on Tuesday. The total tally of COVID-19 cases has increased to 3,24,74,773. With this, the total number of new cases has been below 30,000 for the second day and 40,ooo for the 18th day. Moreover, the difference between new cases reported in the last seven days and the preceding seven days in India is -17 percent, while the world average is at -0.5 percent. Meanwhile, Kerala continued to account for the bulk of Covid-19 cases, registering 13,383 infections. Kerala is followed by Maharashtra with 3,643 cases, Tamil Nadu with 1,604 cases, Karnataka with 1,151 cases and Andhra Pradesh with 1,002 cases. The death toll has climbed to 4,35,110 with 354 fresh fatalities, according to the data updated at 8 am. The number of deaths reported is lowest in 146 days and below 400 for the second consecutive day. The 354 new fatalities include 105 from Maharashtra, 90 from Kerala and 68 from Odisha. A total of 4,35,110 deaths have been reported so far in the country, including 1,36,067 from Maharashtra, 37,155 from Karnataka, 34,734 from Tamil Nadu, 25,079 from Delhi, 22,792 from Uttar Pradesh, 19,584 from Kerala and 18,371 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. The active cases were the lowest in 156 days, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has increased to 97.68 percent, the highest since March 2020, the ministry said. A reduction of 14,373 cases has been recorded in the total number of active COVID-19 cases in a span of 24 hours. The daily positivity rate was recorded at 1.94 percent It has been less than three percent for the last 28 days. The weekly positivity rate was recorded at 1.90 percent. It has been below three percent for the last 60 days, according to the ministry. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 3,17,20,112, while the case fatality rate stands at 1.34 percent, the data stated. Meanwhile, 16,47,526 tests were conducted on Monday, taking the cumulative tests conducted so far to 50,93,91,792. Cumulatively, 58.89 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered under the nationwide vaccination drive till Tuesday morning, including 45.91 lakh people who received their first dose yesterday, 17.94 lakh who received their second dose. 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.