India reports 18,833 new COVID-19 cases, 278 deaths in last 24 hours; active infections lowest in 203 days

New Delhi: India added 18,833 new coronavirus infections taking the country’s total tally of COVID-19 cases to 3,38,71,881, while the active cases declined to 2,46,687, the lowest in 203 days, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Wednesday. The death toll climbed to 4,49,538 with 278 fresh fatalities, according to the data updated at 8 am. The daily rise in new coronavirus infections remained below 30,000 for the 12th straight day. The active cases comprise 0.73 percent of the total infections, the lowest since March 2020, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 97.94 percent, the highest since March 2020, the ministry said. A decrease of 6,215 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours. As many as 14,09,825 tests were conducted on Tuesday taking the total cumulative tests conducted so far for detection of COVID-19 in the country to 57,68,03,867. The daily positivity rate was recorded at 1.34 percent. It has been less than three percent for the last 37 days. The weekly positivity rate was recorded at 1.68 percent. It has been below three percent for the last 103 days, according to the ministry. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 3,31, 75,656, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.33 percent. The cumulative doses administered in the country so far under the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive has exceeded 92.17 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, crossed 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20 and surpassed the one-crore mark on December 19. India crossed the grim milestone of two crore on May 4 and three crore on June 23. The 278 new fatalities include 151 from Kerala and 39 from Maharashtra. A total of 4,49,538 deaths have been reported so far in the country including 1,39,272 from Maharashtra, 37,845 from Karnataka, 35,682 from Tamil Nadu, 25,677 from Kerala and 25,088 from Delhi, 22,896 from Uttar Pradesh and 18,848 from West Bengal. The ministry stressed 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.