India records single-day spike of 1.65 lakh Covid-19 cases, lowest in 46 days

NEW DELHI: India recorded a single-day rise of 1,65,553 new COVID-19 cases, the lowest in 46 days, taking the country’s infection tally to 2,78,94,800, according to Union Health Ministry data updated on Sunday.

The daily positivity declined to 8.02 per cent, remaining below the 10 per cent-mark for the sixth consecutive day, while the weekly positivity rate dropped to 9.36 per cent, it said.

The death toll due to the disease climbed to 3,25,972 in the country with 3,460 fatalities being recorded in a span of 24 hours, the data updated at 8 am showed.

Also, 20,63,839 COVID-19 tests were conducted in the country on Saturday, taking the total number of such exams so far to 34,31,83,748, the ministry said.

The number of active cases has reduced to 21,14,508, comprising 7.58 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has improved to 91.25 per cent, it said.

The count of the daily new cases is the lowest in 46 days. India had recorded 1,61, 736 infections on April 13.

The number of people who have recuperated from the disease has surged to 2,54,54,320, while the case fatality rate stands at 1.17 per cent, the data stated.

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, 50 lakh on September 16, 60 lakh on September 28, 70 lakh on October 11, 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20 and one crore on December 19.

India crossed the grim milestone of two crore infections on May 4.

The 3,460 new fatalities include 832 from Maharashtra, 492 from Karnataka, 486 from Tamil Nadu, 198 from Kerala, 155 from Uttar Pradesh, 148 from West Bengal, 125 from Punjab, 122 from Delhi and 104 from Andhra Pradesh.

A total of 3,25,972 COVID-19 deaths have been reported so far in the country, including 94,030 from Maharashtra, 28,298 from Karnataka, 24,073 from Delhi, 23,261 from Tamil Nadu, 20,208 from Uttar Pradesh, 15,268 from West Bengal, 14,305 from Punjab and 12,979 from Chhattisgarh.

The health ministry stressed that more than 70 per cent of the deaths occurred due to co-morbidities.

“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.