India records over 16,000 COVID-19 cases for third straight day; 113 new deaths push toll up to 1,56,938

New Delhi: India registered a single-day spike of over 16,000 COVID-19 cases for the third day in a row on Saturday, pushing the infection tally to 1,10,79,979, said the Union health ministry on Saturday. A total of 16,488 novel coronavirus cases were reported in a day, while the toll increased to 1,56,938 with 113 new fatalities, showed the data updated at 8 am on Saturday. The active case count has further increased to 1,59,590, which comprises 1.44 percent of the total infections, the data stated. The number of recoveries reached 1,07,63,451, taking the national COVID-19 recovery rate to 97.14 percent and the case fatality rate stands at 1.42 percent. A total of 16,577 new COVID-19 cases were reported in India on Friday, while 16,738 fresh infections were registered in the country on Thursday. 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. The 113 new fatalities include 48 from Maharashtra , 15 from Punjab and 14 from Kerala. The toll from the pandemic stands at 52,041 in Maharashtra, 12,488 in Tamil Nadu, 12,320 in Karnataka, 10,906 in Delhi, 10,263 in West Bengal, 8,725 in Uttar Pradesh and 7,169 in Andhra Pradesh. For the first time, a coronavirus-linked death has been reported in Lakshadweep. The Health Ministry stressed that more than 70 percent of the deaths were caused due to comorbidities. “Our figures are being reconciled with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR),” the ministry said on its website, adding state-wise distribution of figures is subject to further verification and reconciliation.