India records 12,881 COVID-19 cases, 101 deaths in 24 hours; total infections cross 1.09 crore

New Delhi: India’s tally of COVID-19 cases rose to 1,09,50,201 with 12,881 new infections, while the recoveries surged to 1,06,56,845, according to Union Health Ministry data updated on Thursday. The death toll increased to1,56,014 with 101 fresh fatalities, the data updated at 8 am showed. The COVID-19 case fatality rate has dropped to 1.42 percent, while the number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 1,06,56,845 which translates to a national COVID-19 recovery rate of 97.32 percent. The COVID-19 active caseload remained below 1.5 lakh. There are 1,37,342 active cases of coronavirus infections in the country which comprises 1.25 percent of the total cases, the data stated. India’s COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on 7 August, 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, crossed 80 lakh on 29 October, 90 lakh on 20 November and surpassed the one-crore mark on 19 December. According to the ICMR, 20,87,03,791 samples have been tested up to 17 February with 7,26,562 samples being tested on Wednesday. The 101 new fatalities include 40 from Maharashtra, 16 from Kerala and 10 from Punjab. A total of 1,56,014 deaths have been reported so far in the country including 51,631 from Maharashtra followed by 12,438 from Tamil Nadu, 12,276 from Karnataka, 10,894 from Delhi, 10,237 from West Bengal, 8,707 from Uttar Pradesh and 7,165 from Andhra Pradesh. The health 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. .