India reported 43,263 new coronavirus cases and 338 deaths in the last 24 hours ending at 8 AM on Thursday. With this, the country's tally of cases rose to 3.31 crore (3,31,39,981), while the death toll increased to 4.41 lakh (4,41,749).
Over 40,000 (40,567) patients recovered from coronavirus, taking the active number of cases to 3.91 lakh (3,93,614).
Kerala contributed 30,196 cases and 181 deaths in the last 24 hours. The positivity rate, which was witnessing a gradual decline and had dipped below 16 per cent, rose to 17.63 per cent on Wednesday after testing 1,71,295 samples in the last 24 hours.
Maharashtra contributed 4,174 cases and 65 fatalities to India's daily number. Ahmednagar district reported the highest 786 new infections, followed by Pune district at 529. There are now 47,880 active coronavirus cases in Maharashtra.
The daily vaccination remains in the green zone with over 86 lakh Covid jabs administered in the last 24 hours, the CoWin dashboard says. The national recovery rate is consistent at 97.48 per cent.
As many as 18,17,639 tests were conducted on Wednesday taking the total cumulative tests conducted so far for detection of COVID-19 in the country to 53,68,17,243.
The daily positivity rate was recorded as 2.38%. It has been less than 3% for the last 10 days.
The weekly positivity rate was recorded at 2.43%. It has been below 3% for the last 76 days, according to the ministry.
The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 3,23,04,618, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.33%.
The cumulative doses administered in the country so far under the nationwide vaccination drive have exceeded 71.65 crores.
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.