COVID-19: India adds 46,148 new cases, 979 fresh fatalities

India logged 46,148 new coronavirus infections taking the total tally of COVID-19 cases to 3,02,79,331, while daily fatalities were recorded below 1000, taking the death toll to 3,96,730, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Monday.

The country registered 979 fresh fatalities due to COVID-19 in a day, the lowest in 76 days. The active cases declined to 5,72,994 comprising 1.89 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has improved to 96.80 per cent, the data updated at 8 am showed.

Also, 15,70,515 tests were conducted on Sunday taking the total cumulative tests conducted so far for detection of COVID-19 in the country to 40,63,71,279. The daily positivity rate was recorded at 2.94 per cent.It has been less than five per cent for 21 consecutive days, the ministry said, adding the weekly positivity rate has declined to 2.81 per cent.

Recoveries continue to outnumber daily new cases for the 46th consecutive day. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 2,93,09,607, while the case fatality rate stands at 1.31 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. India crossed the grim milestone of two crore on May 4 and three crore on June 23. The 979 new fatalities include 405 from Maharashtra, 91 from Tamil Nadu, 89 from Karnataka, 75 from Uttar Pradesh and 62 from Kerala.

A total of 3,96,730 deaths have been reported so far in the country including 1,21,286 from Maharashtra, 34,743 from Karnataka, 32,290 from Tamil Nadu, 24,965 from Delhi, 22,518 from Uttar Pradesh, 17,612 from West Bengal, 15,991 from Punjab and 13,431 from Chhattisgarh. The 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. According to the data published at 7 am, the cumulative vaccine doses administered in the country has reached 32.36 crore under the Nationwide Vaccination Drive. "India achieves another milestone in COVID-19 vaccination and overtakes the USA in the total number of COVID vaccine doses administered," the ministry added.