India records 38,792 new Covid-19 cases; 624 deaths

New Delhi: India recorded 38,792 new coronavirus cases, taking the infection tally to 3,09,46,074, while the death toll reached 4,11,408 with 624 more fatalities, according to the Union Health Ministry's data updated on Wednesday.

The active cases have declined to 4,29,946 and comprise 1.39 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate stands at 97.28 per cent, the data updated at 8 am showed.

A decrease of 2,832 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours.

Also, 19,15,501 tests were conducted on Tuesday, taking the total cumulative tests conducted so far for detection of COVID-19 in the country to 43,59,73,639, while the daily positivity rate was recorded at 2.10 per cent. It has been less than three per cent for 23 consecutive days, the ministry said.

The weekly positivity rate stands at 2.25 per cent, according to the Health Ministry.

The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 3,01,04,720, while the case fatality rate has increased to 1.33 per cent, the data stated.

Cumulative vaccine doses administered so far has reached 38.76



crore under the nationwide vaccination drive.

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 624 new fatalities include 196 deaths from Maharashtra and 124 from Kerala.

A total of 4,11,408 deaths have been reported so far in the country, including 1,26,220 from Maharashtra, 35,944 from Karnataka, 33,502 from Tamil Nadu, 25,020 from Delhi, 22,704 from Uttar Pradesh, 17,944 from West Bengal and 16,199 from Punjab.

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.