India records 18,987 new Covid-19 cases; 20% higher than yesterday

India recorded 18,987 fresh coronavirus cases, taking the infection tally to 3,40,20,730, while the national Covid recovery rate increased to 98.07 per cent, according to the Union Health Ministry's data at 8 am.

The numbers of deaths reached 4,51,435 with 246 new fatalities, the data updated at 8 am showed.

The top five states which have registered maximum cases are Kerala with 11,079 cases, followed by Maharashtra with 2,219 cases, Tamil Nadu with 1,280 cases, Mizoram with 1,028 cases and West Bengal with 771 cases.

These five states reported 86.25 per cent of the new cases, with Kerala alone responsible for 58.35 per cent of the new cases.

The state has been showing a decline in the daily fresh cases after crossing the 30,000-mark post-Onam festival in August.

Maximum casualties were reported in Kerala with 123 people dying in the last 24 hours, followed by Maharashtra with 49 deaths.

The daily rise in new coronavirus infections has been below 30,000 for 20 straight days and less than 50,000 daily new cases have been reported for 109 consecutive days now.

The active cases have declined to 2,06,586 comprising 0.61 per cent of the total infections while the national Covid recovery rate was recorded at 98.07 per cent, the ministry said.

According to the data shared by the Union Health Ministry on Thursday, the country saw a total of 19,808 discharges in the last 24 hours, taking the total recovery rate at around 98.06 per cent and total recoveries to 3,33,62,709.

India has administered a total of 35,66,347 doses in the last 24 hours, which brings the total tally of doses administered to 96,82,20,997.

A total of 13,01,083 samples were tested in the last 24 hours.