India reports 13,083 fresh Covid-19 cases, 137 deaths in last 24 hours

With 13,083 fresh cases, India's Covid-19 tally has gone up to 1,07,33,131, while 1,04,09,160 patients have recuperated so far, pushing the national recovery rate to 96.98 per cent, the health ministry said on Saturday.

The viral disease has claimed 137 more lives in the country in a span of 24 hours and the death toll now stands at 1,54,147, it added.

There are 1,69,824 active coronavirus cases in the country currently, which account for only 1.58 per cent of the total number of cases, the ministry's data updated at 8 am showed.

The Covid-19 case fatality rate stood at 1.44 per cent, it stated.

According to the ICMR, a total of 19,58,37,408 samples have so far been tested for the viral disease across the country, including 7,56,329 on Friday.

India's Covid-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7 last year, the 30-lakh mark on August 23 and the 40-lakh mark on September 5. It went past 50 lakh on September 16, 60 lakh on September 28, 70 lakh on October 11, 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20 and the one-crore mark on December 19.

The 137 latest fatalities include 56 from Maharashtra, 22 from Kerala, 11 from Punjab, seven from West Bengal, six from Delhi and four from Uttar Pradesh.

Of the total 1,54,147 Covid-19 deaths reported so far in the country, Maharashtra accounts for the highest number of 51,000, followed by Tamil Nadu (12,345), Karnataka (12,211), Delhi (10,841), West Bengal (10,155), Uttar Pradesh (8,646), Andhra Pradesh (7,152), Punjab (5,601) and Gujarat (4,385).

The health ministry stressed that more than 70 per cent of the Covid-19 deaths in the country occurred due to comorbidities.

"Our figures are being reconciled with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR)," the ministry said on its website, adding that a state-wise distribution of the figures is subject to further verification and reconciliation.