India records 38,079 new coronavirus cases, 560 deaths; active cases dip to 4,24,025

New Delhi: India recorded 38,079 new coronavirus cases, which took the infection tally to 3,10,64,908, while the toll reached 4,13,091 with 560 more fatalities, according to Union health ministry data updated on Saturday. The active cases have declined to 4,24,025 and comprise 1.36 percent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate stands at 97.31 percent, the data updated at 8 am showed. It said that active COVID-19 cases have decreased by 6,397 in a span of 24 hours. The ministry said that 19,98,715 tests were conducted on Friday, taking the total cumulative tests conducted for detection of COVID-19 in the country to 44,20,21,954. The daily positivity rate was recorded at 1.91 percent and it has been less than three percent for 26 consecutive days, it said. The weekly positivity rate stands at 2.10 percent, according to the health ministry. The number of people who have recovered from the disease has risen to 3,02,27,792, while the case fatality rate has increased to 1.33 percent, the data stated. The total vaccine doses administered has reached 39.96 crore under the nationwide vaccination drive. 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 last year. 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 last year. India crossed two crore cases on 4 May and three crore cases on 23 June. The 560 new fatalities included 167 deaths from Maharashtra and 130 from Kerala, the ministry said. In total, 4,13,091 deaths have been reported in the country, including 1,26,727 from Maharashtra, 36,079 from Karnataka, 33,652 from Tamil Nadu, 25,023 from Delhi, 22,711 from Uttar Pradesh, 17,980 from West Bengal and 16,215 from Punjab. The ministry said 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.