Active COVID-19 Cases In Country Highest In 208 Days

India logged 1,68,063 new coronavirus infections taking the total tally of COVID-19 cases to 3,58,75,790 which includes 4,461 cases of the Omicron variant, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Tuesday.

Of the total 4,461 cases of the Omicron variant, 1,711 people have recovered or migrated so far. Maharashtra recorded the maximum number of 1,247 cases followed by Rajasthan at 645, Delhi 546, Karnataka 479 and Kerala 350.

The active cases comprise 2.29 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate decreased to 96.36 per cent, the ministry said. An increase of 97,827 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours.

The daily positivity rate was recorded at 10.64 per cent while the weekly positivity rate was recorded at 8.85 per cent, according to the ministry. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 3,45,70,131, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.35 per cent. 

The cumulative doses administered in the country so far under the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive has exceeded 152.89 crore. India's COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 2020, 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 227 new fatalities include 166 from Kerala and 17 from Delhi. A total of 4,84,213 deaths have been reported so far in the country including 1,41,647 from Maharashtra, 49,757 from Kerala, 38,374 from Karnataka, 36,866 from Tamil Nadu, 25,177 from Delhi, 22,932 from Uttar Pradesh and 19,917 from  West Bengal.

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.

With inputs from PTI.