India reports 19,740 new COVID-19 infections; active cases in country lowest in 206 days

COVID-19 in India
A man walk past a mural on novel coronavirus in Thiruvananthapuram, October 3 , 2021. Photo: PTI

New Delhi: India saw a single-day rise of 19,740 COVID-19 infections, taking the country's total tally of cases to 3,39,35,309, while the number of active cases has declined to 2,36,643, the lowest in 206 days, according to Union health ministry data updated on Saturday.

The death toll has climbed to 4,50,375 with 248 more fatalities, the data updated at 8am stated.

The cumulative doses administered in the country so far under the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive has exceeded 94 crore, the health ministry said.

The daily rise in new coronavirus cases has been below 30,000 for 15 straight days, it said.

The active cases have declined to 2,36,643 and comprise 0.70 per cent of the total infections, the lowest since March last year. The national COVID-19 recovery rate has been recorded at 97.98 per cent, the highest since March last year, the ministry said.

There has been a decrease of 3,578 cases in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours, the data stated.

The daily positivity rate has been recorded at 1.56 per cent. It has been less than three per cent for the last 40 days, it said

The weekly positivity rate has been recorded at 1.62 per cent. It has been below three per cent for the last 106 days, according to the health ministry.

The number of people who have recuperated from the disease has surged to 3,32,48,291, while the case fatality rate has been recorded at 1.33 per cent, it said.

India's COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7 last year, 30 lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on September 5 and 50 lakh on September 16 last year.

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 last year.

India crossed the two crore cases on May 4 and three crore cases on June 23.

The 248 new fatalities include 120 from Kerala and 59 from Maharashtra, the ministry said.

It said that a total of 4,50,375 deaths have been reported so far in the country, including 1,39,470 from Maharashtra, 37,866 from Karnataka, 35,754 from Tamil Nadu, 26,072 from Kerala, 25,088 from Delhi, 22,896 from Uttar Pradesh and 18,882 from West Bengal.

The health ministry said that more than 70 per cent 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.  

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