New Delhi: Coronavirus cases in India today remained below the 1 lakh mark for the second consecutive day. The COVID-19 caseload increased by 92,596 new infections, slightly above yesterday’s record, while 2219 deaths were added in the last 24 hours, as per Union Health Ministry data on Wednesday morning. With this, the total cases crossed 2,90,89,069, while the cumulative death toll stood at 3,53,528. Meanwhile, 1,62,664 discharges yesterday took the total recoveries to 2,75,04,126. There are 12,31,415 active cases in India.

In a beaming ray of hope, India recorded less than 1 lakh coronavirus cases yesterday for the first time since April 1. The positivity rate stood at 4.67 per cent as the country continued to report positivity rate below 10 per cent for 16 consecutive days.

In Tuesday’s briefing, the government stressed on avoiding large gatherings for a couple of months and following COVID-19-appropriate behaviour to avert a third wave, even as it noted that there has been a continued and sharp decline in daily new coronavirus cases in the country. Addressing the pandemic situation at hand, Health Ministry Joint Secretary Lav Agarwal said almost 79 per cent decline in daily new COVID-19 cases has been noted since the peak on May 7.