India logs 2,124 Covid cases in a day, 17 deaths

New Delhi: India saw a single day rise of 2,124 new coronavirus infections, taking the infection tally to 4,31,42,192, while the active cases rose to 14,971, according to the Union health ministry data updated on Wednesday.

The COVID-19 death toll has climbed to 5,24,507 with 17 more fatalities, the data updated at 8 am showed.

The active cases comprised 0.03 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 98.75 per cent, the health ministry said.

An increase of 130 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours.

The daily positivity rate was recorded at 0.46 per cent and weekly positivity rate was 0.49 per cent, according to the health ministry.

The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 4,26,02,714, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.22 per cent.

The cumulative doses administered in the country so far under the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive has exceeded 192.67 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.

India crossed the grim milestone of two crore on May 4 and three crore on June 23.

The 17 new fatalities include 13 from Kerala, 2 from Delhi and 1 each from Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh.

A total of 5,24,507 deaths have been reported so far in the country, including 1,47,857 from Maharashtra, 69,630 from Kerala, 40,106 from Karnataka, 38,025 from Tamil Nadu, 26,203 from Delhi, 23,519 from Uttar Pradesh and 21,203 from West Bengal.

The health 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.