NEW DELHI: India logged 18,166 new coronavirus infections taking the country’s total tally of COVID-19 cases to 3,39,53,475, while the active cases declined to 2,30,971, the lowest in 208 days, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Sunday.
The death toll climbed to 4,50,589 with 214 fresh fatalities, according to the data updated at 8 am.
The daily rise in new coronavirus infections has been below 30,000 for 16 straight days.
The active cases comprise 0.68 per cent of the total infections, the lowest since March 2020, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 97.99 per cent, the highest since March 2020, the ministry said.
A decrease of 5,672 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours.
As many as 12,83,212 tests were conducted on Saturday taking the total cumulative tests conducted so far for detection of COVID-19 in the country to 58,25,95,693 .
The daily positivity rate was recorded at 1.42 per cent.
It has been less than three per cent for last 41 days.
The weekly positivity rate was recorded at 1.57 per cent.
It has been below three per cent for the last 107 days, according to the ministry.
The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 3,32,71,915, 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 94.70 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 214 new fatalities include 101 from Kerala, and 44 from Maharashtra.
A total of 4,50,589 deaths have been reported so far in the country including 1,39,514 from Maharashtra, 37,875 from Karnataka, 35,768 from Tamil Nadu, 26,173 from Kerala, 25,088 from Delhi, 22,896 from Uttar Pradesh and 18,894 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.
The cumulative number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country crossed 94.62 crore on Saturday, the Union health ministry said.
More than 60 lakh (60,66,412) vaccine doses have been administered till 7 pm on Saturday, it said.
The daily vaccination tally is expected to increase with the compilation of final reports for the day by late night, it said.
The vaccination exercise as a tool to protect the most vulnerable population groups in the country from the novel coronavirus infection continues to be regularly reviewed and monitored at the highest level, the ministry underlined
The countrywide vaccination drive was rolled out on January 16 with healthcare workers (HCWs) getting inoculated in the first phase.
The vaccination of frontline workers (FLWs) started from February 2.
The next phase of COVID-19 vaccination commenced from March 1 for people over 60 years of age and those aged 45 and above with specified co-morbid conditions.
The country launched vaccination for all people aged more than 45 years from April 1.
The government then decided to expand its vaccination drive by allowing everyone above 18 to be vaccinated from May 1.
COVID-19 containment can derail if festivals are not celebrated following protocols, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya warned on Saturday and exhorted 19 states to escalate their inoculation pace so that India can achieve administering 100 crore vaccine doses in the next few days.
India has so far administered over 94 crore Covid vaccine doses.
Reviewing the progress of COVID-19 vaccination with principal secretaries and mission directors of the National Health Mission from all major states, Mandaviya underlined that administering 100 crore doses of Covid vaccine is the immediate milestone in India’s inoculation journey.
—PTI

Press Trust of India