India reports 20,557 new Covid cases, 44 deaths

New Delhi: India on Thursday reported 20,557 new Covid-19 cases, a slight increase against the 18,313 infections registered the previous day, the Union Health Ministry said.

In the same period, there were 44 additional deaths which took the nationwide Covid death toll to 5,26,211.

The active caseload rose to 1,46,323, accounting for 0.33 per cent of the country’s total positive cases.

The recovery of 19,216 patients in the last 24 hours took the cumulative tally to 4,32,86,787. Consequently, India’s recovery rate stands at 98.47 per cent.

While the daily positivity rate spiked to 5.18 per cent, the weekly positivity rate stood at 4.71 per cent.

Also in the same period, a total of 3,96,783 tests were conducted across the country, increasing the overall tally to over 87.40 crore.

As of Thursday morning, India’s Covid-19 vaccination coverage exceeded 203.21 crore, achieved via 2,68,70,726 sessions

Over 3.87 crore adolescents have been administered with a first dose of Covid-19 jab since the beginning of vaccination drive for this age bracket.