COVID-19: India records 96,982 new cases, 446 fresh fatalities

The daily rise in new coronavirus infections in India remained above 90,000 for the third consecutive day taking the nationwide COVID-19 tally of cases to 1,26,86,049, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Tuesday.
A total of 96,982 cases have been reported in a span of 24 hours, while the death toll increased to 1,65,547 with 446 daily new fatalities, the data updated at 8 am showed.

India on Monday recorded an all-time high of 1,03,558 single day new coronavirus infections in a span of 24 hours.


Registering a steady increase for the 27th day in row, the active cases have increased to 7,88,223 comprising 6.21 per cent of the total infections, while the recovery rate has further dropped to 92.48 per cent, the data stated.

The active caseload was at its lowest at 1, 35,926 on February 12 comprising 1.25 per cent of the total infections.

The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 1,17,32,279, while the case fatality rate has further dropped to 1.30 per cent, 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, 25,02,31,269 samples have been tested up to April 5 with 12,11,612 samples being tested on Monday.

The 446 new fatalities include 155 from Maharashtra, 72 from Punjab, 44 from Chhattisgarh, 32 from Karnataka, 15 each from Delhi, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh, 13 from Uttar Pradesh, 12 each from Kerala and Rajasthan, 11 from Tamil Nadu and 10 from Jharkhand.

A total of 1,65,547 deaths have been reported so far in the country including 56,033 from Maharashtra, 12,789 from Tamil Nadu, 12,657 from Karnataka, 11,096 from Delhi, 10,348 from West Bengal, 8,894 from Uttar Pradesh and 7,244 from Andhra Pradesh and 7,155 from Punjab.

The health 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.