India becomes 3rd country in world to record 3-lakh COVID fatalities

New Delhi: India on Monday breached its COVID-19 death toll with the 3-lakh mark after 4,454 new deaths due to the virus were reported in the last 24 hours.

With the latest data, India has become the third country after Brazil and the United States to record over 3 lakh deaths linked to Covid since the pandemic broke.

According to the Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry's database on Monday, India witnessed the lowest rise in infection since April 21 with 2,22,315 fresh cases in 24 hours.

Over the past few days, the country has been recording a steady decline in the number of daily cases, even as the daily number of COVID-19 tests are at a record high of 20 lakh for a few days.

India's overall tally of Covid-19 cases now stands at 2,67,52,447 with 27,20,716 active cases and 3,03,720 deaths so far.

In the last 24 hours, Tamil Nadu saw 35,483 fresh Covid cases. Maharashtra recorded 26,672 cases, Karnataka reported 25,979 infections, Kerala logged 25,820 infections and Andhra Pradesh reported 18,767 cases. These five states and Uttar Pradesh have logged the highest overall cases so far.

India has recorded a total of over 50,000 deaths in the last 12 days.

Meanwhile, several cases of Black Fungus or Mucormycosis reported in Covid patients has emerged as a big concern in India's fight against coronavirus.

According to the Health Ministry, a total of 3,02,544 people have been discharged in the last 24 hours, with 2,37,28,011 being cured of the covid to date.

The Health Ministry said that a total of 19,60,51,962 people have been vaccinated so far in the country, including 9,42,722 who were administered vaccines in the last 24 hours.

After battling a brutal second wave for weeks, fresh Covid cases came down below the three lakh mark for the first time on May 17 after touching a record high of 4,14,188 on May 7.

However, in a positive development, India's daily Covid-19 recoveries have continued to outnumber the daily new cases for the 11th consecutive day on Monday with 3,02,544 recoveries registered in the last 24 hours.

The latest data of the Union Health Ministry reveals that India's cumulative recoveries reached 2,37,28,011 on Monday and the National Recovery Rate has grown further to touch 88.69 per cent.

Ten states account for 72.23 per cent of the new recoveries with Kerala (37,316) on top followed by Karnataka (35,573), Maharashtra (29,177), Tamil Nadu (25,196), Andhra Pradesh (20,109), West Bengal (19,429)), Rajasthan (16,520), Uttar Pradesh (14,086), Odisha (11,627) and Haryana (9,480).