India reports less than 50,000 new COVID-19 cases, lowest in 91 days; active cases fall below 7 lakh

New Delhi: India recorded less than 50,000 new coronavirus infections, the lowest in 91 days, taking the total tally of cases to 2,99,77,861, while active cases fell below seven lakh after 79 days, according to the Union health ministry data updated on Tuesday. A total of 42,640 COVID-19 infections were reported in a day, while the toll climbed to 3,89,302 with 1,167 daily fatalities, the lowest in 68 days. According to the data published at 7 am, India administered 86.16 lakh vaccine doses, the highest ever single-day vaccination achieved in the world so far, the health ministry said. Cumulatively, 28.87 crore vaccine doses have been administered so far under the nationwide inoculation drive. The active cases have further declined to 6,62,521, comprising 2.21 percent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has improved to 96.49 percent, the data updated at 8 am showed. A net decline of 40,366 cases has been recorded in the caseload in a span of 24 hours. Also, 16,64,360 tests were conducted on Monday, taking the total cumulative tests conducted so far for detection of COVID-19 in the country to 39,40,72,142, while the daily positivity rate has declined to 2.56 percent. It has been less than 5 percent for 15 consecutive days, the ministry said. _**Follow LIVE updates on COVID-19**_ The weekly positivity rate has declined to 3.21 percent. Recoveries continued to outnumber daily new cases for 40 consecutive days. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 2,89,26,038, while the case fatality rate stands at 1.30 percent, the data stated. 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. India crossed the grim milestone of two crore on 4 May. The 1,167 new fatalities include 352 from Maharashtra, 189 from Tamil Nadu and 142 from Karnataka. A total of 3,89,302 deaths have been reported so far in the country, including 1,18,313 from Maharashtra, 34,025 from Karnataka, 31,386 from Tamil Nadu, 24,925 from Delhi, 22,224 from Uttar Pradesh, 17,390 from West Bengal, 15,854 from Punjab and 13,395 from Chhattisgarh. The Health 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.