India's COVID-19 tally nears 95 lakh after 36,604 new infections; active cases fall below 4.3 lakh

New Delhi: India recorded 36,604 new coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours, taking the total COVID-19 caseload to nearly 95 lakh on Wednesday, said the health ministry. The toll was pushed to 1,38,122 with 501 new fatalities, the data updated at 8 am showed. Over 89.32 lakh patients have recuperated from the disease, with more than 43,000 on Tuesday alone. The national recovery rate is now at 94.03 percent while the case fatality rate is 1.45 percent. The active COVID-19 caseload remained below 5 lakh for the 22nd consecutive day. There are 4,28,644 active coronavirus infections in the country which comprise 4.51 percent of the total caseload, the data stated. India’s COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on 7 August, 30 lakh on 23 August and 40 lakh on 5 September. It went past 50 lakh on 16 September, 60 lakh on 28 September, 70 lakh on 11 October, crossed 80 lakh on 29 October and surpassed 90 lakh on 20 November. According to the ICMR, over 14.24 crore samples have been tested up to 1 December. At least 10,96,651 samples were tested on Tuesday alone. The 501 new fatalities include 95 from Maharashtra, 86 from Delhi, 52 from West Bengal, 31 from Chhattisgarh, 28 from Haryana, 27 from Uttar Pradesh, 26 from Kerala and 21 from Himachal Pradesh. A total of 1,38,122 deaths have been reported so far in the country including 47,246 from Maharashtra followed by 11,792 from Karnataka, 11,722 from Tamil Nadu, 9,260 from Delhi, 8,476 from West Bengal, 7,788 from Uttar Pradesh, 6,996 from Andhra Pradesh, 4,821 from Punjab, 4,004 from Gujarat and 3,270 from Madhya Pradesh. 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 itswebsite, adding that state-wise distribution of figures is subject to further verification and reconciliation.