India records 50,040 new COVID-19 cases, 1,258 fresh fatalities; active cases less than 2%

A single-day rise of 50,040 fresh COVID-19 infections took India’s tally to 3,02,33,183, while the number of active cases dipped to 5,86,403, according to the Union Health Ministry data on Sunday. The death toll climbed to 3,95,751 with 1,258 more people succumbing to the viral disease in a day. Active cases now comprises 1.94 percent of the total infections, the data updated at 8 am showed. Recoveries outnumbered daily new cases of COVID-19 for the 45th consecutive day with the number of people who have recuperated from the disease surging to 2,92,51,029. The case fatality rate stood at 1.31 percent. While the national COVID-19 recovery rate has improved to 96.75 percent, the weekly case positivity rate has come down to 2.91 per cent. According to the ministry data, the daily positivity rate was recorded at 2.82 percent. It has been less than 5 per cent for 20 consecutive days. India administered 64.25 lakh vaccine doses in a day, taking the cumulative number of jabs given so far under the nationwide inoculation drive to 32.17 crore, according to immunisation data published at 7 am. Also, 17,45,809 tests were conducted on Saturday for the detection of COVID-19, taking the total number of tests conducted so far in the country to 40,18,11,892. India’s COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7 last year, 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, crossed 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20 and surpassed the one-crore mark on December 19. The country crossed the grim milestone of two crore total COVID-19 cases on May 4 this year and three crore on June 23. The total 3,95,751 deaths reported so far in the country include 1,20,881 in Maharashtra, 34,654 in Karnataka, 32,199 in Tamil Nadu, 24,961 in Delhi, 22,443 in Uttar Pradesh, 17583 in West Bengal, 15979 in Punjab and 13,427 in Chhattisgarh. The ministry has stressed that more than 70 per cent of the deaths reported so far have 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.