India reports 16,906 new COVID-19 cases, 45 deaths in last 24 hours; Kerala, Maharashtra see most number of casualties

New Delhi: India reported 16,906 new cases of COVID-19 and 45 deaths in the last 24 hours, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) said on Wednesday morning. The fresh infections reported today were 21.53 per cent higher than 13,615 daily cases reported on Tuesday. The new cases reported today have pushed the country’s COVID-19 tally to 4,36,69,850 (4 crore 36 lakh 69 thousand 8 hundred and 50). The death toll due to coronavirus has in India has now risen to 5,25,519. The daily COVID-19 positivity rate has increased to 3.68 per cent today, up from 3.23 per cent on Tuesday. The weekly positivity rate was at 4.36 per cent. Active COVID-19 cases in India There are currently 1,32,457 (1 lakh 32 thousand 4 hundred and 57) active cases of COVID-19 in India. There has been increase of 1,414 cases in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours. The country’s active cases comprise 0.30 per cent of the total infections. COVID-19 deaths in India In the last 24 hours, the country reported 45 COVID-19 deaths. The maximum fatalities were reported in Kerala (17) followed by Maharashtra (13). West Bengal reported five COVID-19 deaths, while Gujarat logged two casualties. Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Odisha, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh each have reported one death each. COVID-19: States reporting highest number of fresh cases Maharashtra and West Bengal have been reporting most number of fresh COVID-19 cases. In the last 24 hours, Maharashtra logged 2,435 new coronavirus cases, with Mumbai reporting 420 fresh infections. Nine infections- six patients of BA.4 and BA.5 and three of BA.2.75- of sub-variants of Omicron were also reported. All these patients were from Pune. Meanwhile, West Bengal added 2,659 new COVID-19 cases, 744 more than the previous day’s count. India’s COVID-19 recovery According to the health ministry 15,447 patients recuperated from COVID-19 in the last 24 hours. This has increased total recoveries to 4,30,11,874 (4 crore 30 lakh 11 thousand 8 hundred and 74). The national recovery rate now is at 98.49 per cent. COVID-19 tests in India The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) on Wednesday said that 4,59,302 (4 lakh 59 thousand and 3 hundred and 2) COVID-19 tests were conducted in the country in the last 24 hours. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, 86,77,69,574 (86 crore 77 lakh 69 thousand 5 hundred and 74) samples have been tested in the country for coronavirus, the Council informed. COVID-19 vaccination The health ministry bulletin on Wednesday said that 11,15,068 (11 lakh 15 thousand and 68) doses of COVID-19 vaccine were administered in the country in the last 24 hours. India started the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive on 16 January, 2021, and since then, more than 199.12 crore vaccine doses have been administered to the eligible beneficiaries. With inputs from agencies Read all the Latest News , Trending News ,  Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.