India's new Covid cases fall below 40,000; 723 more deaths

The active caseload, which comprises 1.58% of the total caseload, dropped to 4,82,071

India saw a single-day rise of 39,796 new Covid infections, which took the tally of cases to 3,05,85,229, while the death toll climbed to 4,02,728 with 723 more fatalities, the lowest in around 88 days, according to Union Health Ministry data updated on Monday.

The active cases have further declined to 4,82,071 and comprise 1.58 per cent of the total infections, while the national Covid recovery rate has improved to 97.11 per cent, the data updated at 8 am showed

It said that there has been a decline of 3,279 active cases in a span of 24 hours.

The ministry said that 15,22,504 tests were conducted on Sunday, taking the total cumulative tests conducted for detection of Covd in the country to 41,97,77,457.

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The daily positivity rate was recorded at 2.61 per cent. It has been less than five per cent for 28 consecutive days, it said.

The weekly positivity rate has declined to 2.4 per cent, according to the health ministry.

Recoveries continue to outnumber daily cases for 53 consecutive days, it said, adding that the number of people who have recuperated from the disease has risen to 2,97,00,430.

The case fatality rate stands at 1.32 per cent, the data stated.

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The cumulative vaccine doses administered has reached 35.28 crore under the nationwide vaccination drive, the ministry said.

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.

India crossed 2 crore cases on May 4 and 3 crore on June 23.

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The 723 new fatalities include 306 from Maharashtra, 76 from Kerala and 72 from Tamil Nadu, the ministry said.

It said that 4,02,728 deaths have been reported so far in the country, including 1,23,030 from Maharashtra, 35,367 from Karnataka, 33,005 from Tamil Nadu, 24,995 from Delhi, 22,640 from Uttar Pradesh, 17,799 from West Bengal and 16,110 from Punjab.

The health ministry said 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.