India records lowest daily new Covid tally in 8 months

India registered 8,635 new coronavirus infections in a day, the lowest in eight months, while the daily deaths fell below 100 after almost nine months, according to Union health ministry data updated on Tuesday.

The country's COVID-19 tally stands at 1,07,66,245 and the death toll increased to 1,54,486 with 94 new fatalities, the data updated at 8 am showed.

The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 1,04,48,406 pushing the national recovery rate to 97.05 per cent, while the COVID-19 case fatality rate has dropped to 1.43 per cent.

The COVID-19 active caseload remained below two lakh for the 14th consecutive day.

There are 1,63,353 active coronavirus infections in the country which comprise 1.52 per cent of the total caseload, the data stated.

India's COVID-19 tally had crossed 20 lakh on August 7, 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.

According to the Indian Council of Medical Research, 19,77,52,057 samples have been tested up to February 1 with 6,59,422 samples being tested on Monday.

The 94 new fatalities include 27 from Maharashtra, 17 from Kerala, seven from Tamil Nadu, six from West Bengal, five from Chhattisgarh, four each from Uttarakhand, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, and three each from Delhi, Karnataka and Puducherry.

A total of 1,54,486 deaths have been reported so far in the country including 51,109 from Maharashtra, 12,363 from Tamil Nadu, 12,220 from Karnataka, 10,856 from Delhi, 10,179 from West Bengal, 8,662 from Uttar Pradesh and 7,154 from Andhra Pradesh.

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.