Biggest single-day jump in over 3 months; death toll mounts to 1,59,216 with 172 new fatalities
New Delhi: India on Thursday recorded a biggest single day jump in over 3 months in the COVID-19 cases as 35,871 people tested positive for the pestilence. As many as 172 new COVID-19 fatalities were recorded across the country during the past 24-hours taking the death toll to 1,59,216.
The officials said that the active caseload has reached to 2,52,364, which accounts for 2.20 per cent of the total infections. The recovery rate further dropped to 96.41 per cent.
The single-day spike of 35,871 cases is the highest in 102 days. As many as 36,011 new infections were recorded on December 6.
The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 1,10,63,025, while the case fatality rate stands at 1.39 per cent, according to the data.
India’s COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 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.
According to the Indian Council of Medical Research, 23,03,13,163 samples had been tested up to March 17 with 10,63,379 being tested on Wednesday.
The 172 new fatalities include 84 from Maharashtra, 35 from Punjab and 13 from Kerala.
So far, 1,59,216 deaths have been reported in the country including 53,080 from Maharashtra, 12,564 from Tamil Nadu, 12,407 from Karnataka, 10,948 from Delhi, 10,298 from West Bengal, 8,751 from Uttar Pradesh and 7,186 from Andhra Pradesh.
The health ministry stressed that more than 70 per cent 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.
