India records 16,504 new Covid-19 cases, 214 deaths

The Covid-19 active caseload remained below 3 lakh for the 14th consecutive day

Daily new Covid-19 cases in the country remained below 20,000 for the third consecutive day taking the virus caseload to 1,03,40,469, while the recoveries surged to 99.46 lakh, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Monday.

A total of 16,504 people tested positive for coronavirus infection in a day. The death toll increased to 1,49,649 with 214 new fatalities, the data updated at 8 am showed.

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The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 99,46,867 pushing the national recovery rate to 96.19 per cent, while the Covid-19 case fatality rate stands at 1.45 per cent.

There are 2,43,953 active cases of coronavirus infection in the country which comprise 2.36 per cent of the total caseload,the data stated.

India's Covid-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark 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 ICMR, 17,56,35,761 samples have been tested up to January 3 with 7,35,978 samples being tested on Sunday.