India records 21,257 new COVID-19 cases, 271 deaths; national recovery rate at 97.96%

New Delhi: With 21,257 people testing positive for the coronavirus infection in a day, India’s total tally of cases rose to 3,39,15,569, while the number of active cases declined to 2,40,221, the lowest in 205 days, according to data updated by the Union Health Ministry on Friday. The toll has climbed to 4,50,127 with 271 new fatalities, according to the data updated at 8 am. The daily rise in coronavirus infections has been below 30,000 for 14 straight days. The number of active cases has declined to 2,40,221, accounting for 0.71 percent of the total infections, the lowest since March 2020, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 97.96 percent, the highest since March 2020, the ministry said. A decrease of 3,977 cases has been recorded in the active caseload in a span of 24 hours. Also, 13,85,706 tests were conducted on Thursday taking the total number of tests conducted so far for detection of COVID-19 in the country to 58,00,43,190. The daily positivity rate was recorded at 1.53 percent. It has been less than three percent for the last 39 days. The weekly positivity rate was recorded at 1.64 percent. It has been below three percent for the last 105 days, according to the ministry. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 3,32,25,221, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.33 percent. The cumulative doses administered in the country so far under the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive has crossed 93.17 crore. India’s COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 2020; 30 lakh on August 23; 40 lakh on September 5; and 50 lakh on September 16. It went past 60 lakh on September 28; 70 lakh on October 11; 80 lakh on October 29; 90 lakh on November 20; and the one-crore mark on December 19. India crossed the grim milestone of two crore COVID-19 cases on May 4 and three crore on June 23. The 271 new fatalities include 141 from Kerala, and 49 from Maharashtra. A total of 4,50,127 deaths have been reported so far in the country, including 1,39,411 from Maharashtra, 37,861 from Karnataka, 35,734 from Tamil Nadu, 25,952 from Kerala, 25,088 from Delhi, 22,896 from Uttar Pradesh, and 18,876 from West Bengal. The ministry stressed that more than 70 per cent 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.