India reports 29,616 new COVID-19 cases, 290 deaths in last 24 hrs; recovery rate jumps to 97.78%

India logged 29,616 new coronavirus infections, taking the total tally of cases to 3,36,24,419, while the active cases rose by 1,280 to reach 3,01,442, according to Union Health Ministry data updated on Saturday. The death toll climbed to 4,46,658 with 290 fresh fatalities, the data updated at 8am showed. The active cases now constitute 0.90 percent of the total infections, while the nationwide COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 97.78 percent, the highest since March 2020, the ministry said. An increase of 1,280 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours, it said. The daily positivity rate was recorded at 1.86 percent, while the weekly positivity rate was 1.99 percent. The latter has been below 3 percent for the last 92 days, it said. India’s tally of cases 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 cases on May 4 and three crore on June 23. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 3,28,76,319 and the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.33 percent. On the inoculation front, the cumulative doses administered in the country so far under the nationwide vaccination drive has exceeded 84.89 crore. As many as 15,92,421 tests were conducted on Friday, taking the total cumulative tests conducted so far for detection of COVID-19 in the country to 56,16,61,383. The 290 new fatalities include 127 from Kerala, 51 from Maharashtra and 27 from Tamil Nadu. A total of 4,46,658 deaths have been reported so far in the country including 1,38,776 from Maharashtra, 37,706 From Karnataka, 35,454 from Tamil Nadu, 25,085 from Delhi, 24,318 from Kerala, 22,890 from Uttar Pradesh and 18,716 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 the state-wise distribution of figures is subject to further verification and reconciliation.