India records over 17,000 new COVID-19 infections after over a month

NEW DELHI: The daily new cases of COVID-19 in India were recorded above 17,000 after a little over a month taking the total tally of cases to 1,11,56,923, while the recoveries surged to 1,08,26,075, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Thursday.

A total of 17,407 infections were reported in a day.

The death toll increased to 1,57,435 with 89 daily new fatalities,  the data updated at 8 am showed.

On January 29, 18,855 new infections were recorded in a span of 24 hours.

The COVID-19 active caseload has increased to 1,73,413 which comprises 1.55  per cent of the total infections, the data stated.

The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 1,08,26,075 which translates to a national COVID-19 recovery rate of 97.03 per cent, while the case fatality rate stands at 1.41 per cent.

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,  0 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, 21,91,78,908 samples have been tested up to March 3 with 7,75,631 samples being tested on Wednesday.

The 89 new fatalities include 42 from Maharashtra, 15 from Kerala and 12 from Punjab.

A total of 1,57,435 deaths have been reported so far in the country including 52,280 from Maharashtra followed by 12,504  from Tamil Nadu, 12,346 from Karnataka, 10,914 from Delhi, 10,272 from West Bengal, 8,728 from Uttar Pradesh and 7,170 from Andhra Pradesh.

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.