India reports 11,919 new COVID-19 cases, 470 deaths in last 24 hrs; recovery rate at 98.28%

New Delhi: With 11,919 fresh cases, India’s COVID-19 tally has climbed to 3,44,78,517, while the number of active cases has gone up to 1,28,762, the Union health ministry said on Thursday. The death toll due to the viral disease has shot up to 4,64,623 with 470 more fatalities, according to the ministry’s data updated at 8 am. The daily rise in the number of coronavirus cases has been below 20,000 for 41 straight days now and less than 50,000 fresh cases have been reported for 144 consecutive days. The number of active cases of the infection has gone up to 1,28,762, accounting for 0.37 percent of the total caseload, the lowest since March 2020, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 98.28 percent, the highest since March 2020, the ministry said. An increase of 207 cases in the active COVID-19 caseload was recorded in a span of 24 hours, it added. The daily positivity rate was recorded at 0.97 percent. It has been less than two percent for 45 consecutive days. The weekly positivity rate was recorded at 0.94 percent. It has been below two percent for the last 55 days, according to the health ministry. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease has climbed to 3,38,85,132, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.35 percent. The total number of vaccine doses administered in the country under the nationwide Covid inoculation drive has exceeded 114.46 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 last year. The country crossed the grim milestone of two crore Covid cases on May 4 this year and the three-crore mark on June 23. The 470 fresh fatalities caused by Covid include 388 from Kerala and 32 from Maharashtra. Of the 388 fatalities in Kerala, 61 were reported over the last few days and the remaining 327 were designated as COVID-19 deaths after receiving appeals based on the new guidelines of the Centre and Supreme Court directions, according to a release issued by the state government. A total of 4,64,623 deaths due to the viral disease have so far been reported in the country, including 1,40,668 from Maharashtra, 38,161 from Karnataka, 36,475 from Kerala, 36,324 from Tamil Nadu, 25,095 from Delhi, 22,909 from Uttar Pradesh and 19,341 from West Bengal. 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 a state-wise distribution of the figures is subject to further verification and reconciliation.