New Delhi: India on Friday recorded 2,451 fresh Covid cases, the highest since March 18, according to the data updated on the health ministry website. In the last 24 hours, 54 deaths were recorded from across the country, and India's overall death count now stands at 522,116. With the latest surge, the country's overall cases have risen to 43,052,425.
The active cases comprise 0.03 percent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded as 98.75 percent, the ministry said. An increase of 808 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours.
The daily positivity rate was recorded as 0.55 percent and the weekly positivity rate as 0.47 percent, according to the ministry.
The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 4,25,16,068, while the case fatality rate was 1.21 percent.
The cumulative doses administered in the country so far under the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive have exceeded 187.26 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.
The country crossed the grim milestone of two crores on May 4 and three crores on June 23 last year.
The 54 new fatalities include 48 from Kerala and one each from Delhi, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Punjab, and Uttarakhand.
A total of 5,22,116 deaths have been reported so far in the country including 1,47,831 from Maharashtra, 68,750 from Kerala, 40,057 from Karnataka, 38,025 from Tamil Nadu, 26,162 from Delhi, 23,502 from Uttar Pradesh, and 21,200 from West Bengal.
The ministry stressed that more than 70 percent 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.