18,819 new Covid-19 cases in India, active caseload tops 1 lakh

India on Thursday logged 18,819 new Covid-19 cases, recording a jump of 29.7 per cent since yesterday, according to the Union Health Ministry data. On Wednesday, the nation reported 14,506 single-day infections.

The overall tally jumped to 4,34,52,164, while the active cases breached the 1 lakh mark again after 122 days.

The active cases increased to 1,04,555 comprising 0.24 per cent of the total infections, while the national Covid-19 recovery rate was recorded at 98.55 per cent, the ministry said.

The death toll jumped to 5,25,116 with 39 more fatalities in the last 24 hours.

An increase of 4,953 cases has been recorded in the active Covid-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours.

The daily positivity rate was recorded at 4.16 per cent and the weekly positivity rate at 3.72 per cent, according to the ministry.

The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 4,28,22,493, while the case fatality rate was 1.21 per cent.

According to the ministry, 197.61 crore doses of Covid vaccine have been administered in the country so far under the nationwide Covid-19 vaccination drive.

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.

The country crossed the grim milestone of two crore on May 4 and three crore on June 23 last year. It crossed four crore on January 25 this year.

The 39 new fatalities include 17 from Kerala, seven from Maharashtra, four from Uttar Pradesh, three from Punjab, two each from Haryana, Karnataka and West Bengal and one each from Delhi and Sikkim.

A total of 5,25,116 deaths have been reported so far in the country including 1,47,922 from Maharashtra, 69,993 from Kerala, 40,117 from Karnataka, 38,026 from Tamil Nadu, 26,261 from Delhi, 23,538 from Uttar Pradesh and 21,218 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.

(With inputs from PTI)