India's daily Covid cases stay below 20K-mark for second straight day

The daily rise in coronavirus infections remained below 20,000 for the second consecutive day with 18,870 fresh cases recorded in a single day, while the active cases declined to 2,82,520, the lowest in 194 days, according to the Union health ministry data updated on Wednesday.

With the fresh cases, India's tally of Covid-19 cases rose to 3,37,16,451.

The death toll climbed to 4,47,751 with 378 fresh fatalities, according to the data updated at 8 am.

The active cases comprise 0.84 per cent of the total infections, the lowest since March 2020, while the national Covid-19 recovery rate was recorded at 97.83 per cent, the highest since March 2020, the ministry said.

A decrease of 9,686 cases has been recorded in the active Covid-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours.

As many as 15,04,713 tests were conducted on Tuesday taking the total cumulative tests conducted so far for detection of Covid-19 in the country to 56,74,50,185.

The daily positivity rate was recorded at 1.25 per cent. It has been less than three per cent for last 30 days. The weekly positivity rate was recorded at 1.82 per cent. It has been below three per cent for the last 96 days, according to the ministry.

The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 3,29,86,180, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.33 per cent.

The cumulative doses administered in the country so far under the nationwide Covid-19 vaccination drive has exceeded 87.66 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 378 new fatalities include 149 from Kerala, 64 from Haryana and 60 from Maharashtra.

A total of 4,47,751 deaths have been reported so far in the country including 1,38,962 from Maharashtra, 37,763 from Karnataka, 35,526 from Tamil Nadu, 25,087 from Delhi, 24,810 from Kerala, 22,891 from Uttar Pradesh and 18,764 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.