India reports 7,554 new COVID-19 cases, 223 deaths in last 24 hours

According to the health bulletin, India reported 7,554 new COVID-19 cases and 223 deaths in the last 24 hours.

New Delhi: India logged 7,554 new coronavirus infections, taking the total tally of COVID-19 cases to 4,29,38,599, while the active cases dipped to 85,680, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Wednesday.

The death toll climbed to 5,14,246 with 223 fresh fatalities, the data updated at 8 am stated. The daily COVID-19 cases have remained less than one lakh for 24 consecutive days. The active cases comprises 0.20 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has further improved to 98.60 per cent, the ministry said. A reduction of 6,792 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours.

The daily positivity rate was recorded as 0.96 per cent while the weekly positivity rate was recorded as 1.06 per cent, according to the ministry. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 4,23,38,673 and the case fatality rate was 1.20 per cent. The cumulative doses administered in the country so far under the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive has exceeded 177.79 crore.

India's COVID-19 tally 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. The country crossed the grim milestone of two crore on May 4 and three crore on June 23 last year.

The 223 new fatalities include 168 from Kerala and 10 from Uttar Pradesh. A total of 5,14,246 deaths have been reported so far in the country including 1,43,706 from Maharashtra, 65,501 from Kerala, 39,957 from Karnataka, 38,006 from Tamil Nadu, 26,126 from Delhi, 23,466 from Uttar Pradesh and 21,178 from West Bengal. The ministry stressed 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.