India records 23% spike in daily COVID-19 cases, reports 38,792 fresh infections

India recorded 38,792 new coronavirus cases, taking the infection tally to 3,09,46,074, while the death toll reached 4,11,408 with 624 more fatalities, according to the Union Health Ministry’s data updated on Wednesday. The active cases have declined to 4,29,946 and comprise 1.39 percent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate stands at 97.28 per cent, the data updated at 8 am showed. A decrease of 2,832 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours. Also, 19,15,501 tests were conducted on Tuesday, taking the total cumulative tests conducted so far for detection of COVID-19 in the country to 43,59,73,639, while the daily positivity rate was recorded at 2.10 per cent. It has been less than three per cent for 23 consecutive days, the ministry said. The weekly positivity rate stands at 2.25 per cent, according to the Health Ministry. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 3,01,04,720, while the case fatality rate has increased to 1.33 per cent, the data stated. Cumulative vaccine doses administered so far has reached 38.76 crore under the nationwide vaccination drive. India’s COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20 lakh-mark on August 7, 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 11 October, crossed 80 lakh on October 29, 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. The 624 new fatalities include 196 deaths from Maharashtra and 124 from Kerala. A total of 4,11,408 deaths have been reported so far in the country, including 1,26,220 from Maharashtra, 35,944 from Karnataka, 33,502 from Tamil Nadu, 25,020 from Delhi, 22,704 from Uttar Pradesh, 17,944 from West Bengal and 16,199 from Punjab. The Health 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.

Here are some key points

- 38.79k new cases, 624 new deaths, 41k new recoveries, 2.8k dip in active cases - New cases below 40k for the 3rd day. Below 50k for the 17th day - Deaths lowest in 8 days - Kerala reports 14.5k new cases, Maharashtra 7.2k, Andhra Pradesh 2.6k - Maharashtra reports 196 new deaths, Kerala 124, Odisha 68 - Kerala now has more active cases than Maharashtra - 9 states/UTs report rise in active cases including 7 North East states - North East states continue to report more than 5k new cases (5.1k) - 10 states/UTs report 0 new deaths. 27 states/UTs report fewer than 10 new deaths - Difference between new cases reported in the last 7 days and the preceding 7 days in India is -6% (world average is +14%) - 37.1 lakh new vaccinations. 38.77 crore total. 23.1 lakh received their first dose yesterday, 14 lakh second dose - 19.15 lakh new tests. Test positivity rate: 2.03 percent (1.89 percent the previous day) - Test positivity rate below 3 percent for the 23rd day - Test positivity rate: Nagaland 27.11 percent, Manipur 13.65 percent, Meghalaya 10.37 percent, Kerala 9.14 percent - Indonesia, Brazil, Spain report more daily new cases than India. India ranks No.5 in the world in new deaths with Brazil, Indonesia, Russia, South Africa reporting more deaths than India