India logs 44,230 fresh COVID-19 infections as cases continue to rise for third consecutive day

New Delhi: With a single-day rise of 44,230 cases, India’s COVID-19 tally climbed to 3,15,72,344 on Friday, while the death toll due to the viral disease shot up to 4,23,217 with 555 more people succumbing to it, the Union health ministry said. The number of active coronavirus cases in the country registered an increase for the third consecutive day, according to the ministry’s data updated at 8 am. The number of active cases has gone up to 4,05,155, accounting for 1.28 percent of the total caseload, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 97.38 percent, the data showed. An increase of 1,315 cases was recorded in the active COVID-19 tally in a span of 24 hours. Meanwhile, 18,16,277 tests were carried out on July 29, taking the total number of tests conducted so far in the country to 46,46,50,723, while the daily positivity rate was recorded at 2.44 percent. The weekly positivity rate was recorded at 2.43 percent, according to the ministry. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease has gone up to 3,07,43,972, while the case fatality rate stands at 1.34 percent, the data showed. The cumulative number of Covid vaccine doses administered in the country so far has reached 45.60 crore. India’s COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7 last year, 30-lakh mark on August 23, 40-lakh mark on September 5 and 50-lakh mark on September 16. It went past 60 lakh on September 28 last year, 70 lakh on October 11, 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20 and the one-crore mark on December 19. The country crossed the grim milestone of two crore COVID-19 cases on May 4 this year and the three-crore mark on June 23.