COVID-19: New daily cases dip below 20,000 after nearly 6 months

The number of new coronavirus infections reported in a span of 24 hours was recorded below 20,000 after nearly six months while the COVID-19 active caseload fell below 3 lakh, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Tuesday.

India's COVID-19 caseload rose to 1,00,75,116 with 19,556 new infections being reported in a day. The death toll increased to 1,46,111 with 301 new fatalities, the data updated at 8 am showed.

The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 96,36,487 pushing the national recovery rate to 95.65 per cent, while the COVID-19 case fatality rate stands at 1.45 per cent. The COVID-19 active caseload has fallen below 3 lakh.

There are 2,92,518 active coronavirus infections in the country which comprises 2.90 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, 16,31,70,557 samples have been tested up to December 21 with 10,72,228 samples being tested on Monday.