India reports 16,299 new Covid cases, 53 fatalities

India logged 16,299 new coronavirus infections taking the total tally of cases to 4,42,06,996 while the active cases declined to 1,25,076, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Thursday The death toll climbed to 5,26,879 with 53 fatalities which include four deaths reconciled by Kerala, the data updated at 8 am stated.

The active cases comprise 0.28 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 98.53 per cent, the ministry said.

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 crore on May 4 and three crore on June 23 last year. It crossed the four-crore mark on January 25 this year.