India adds over 20k fresh Covid-19 cases for 2nd consecutive day

New Delhi: India recorded 20,038 new cases of the novel coronavirus, along with 47 deaths due to the infection in the past 24 hours. The total active cases of COVID-19 in India have risen to 1,39,073, the health ministry data showed today.

The death count due to the disease has climbed to 5,25,604 with 47 new fatalities being reported, the data updated at 8 am showed.

Forty-seven new fatalities due to the disease were reported in the country – 20 from Kerala, five from West Bengal, four from Maharashtra, three from Punjab, two each from Assam, Bihar, Haryana and Uttarakhand, and one each from Delhi, Goa, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Nagaland and Sikkim.

Active cases now comprise 0.32 percent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 98.48 percent, the health ministry said.

An increase of 2,997 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload of the country in a span of 24 hours, the data showed.

The daily positivity rate was recorded at 4.44 per cent and the weekly positivity rate at 4.30 per cent, according to the ministry.

The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 4,30,45,350, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.20 per cent, as per the data.

According to the ministry, 199.47 crore Covid vaccine doses have been administered in the country so far under the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive.

India's COVID-19 infection tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 2020, 30 lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on September 5, 50 lakh on September 16, 60 lakh on September 28, 70 lakh on October 11, 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20 and the one-crore mark on December 19, 2020.

The country crossed the grim milestones of two crore cases on May 4, 2021, three crores on June 23, 2021, and four crores on January 25 this year.