India reports 18,257 new COVID-19 cases, 42 fatalities

With 18,257 new coronavirus infections being reported in a day, India’s total tally of COVID-19 cases rose to 4,36,22,651, while the active cases increased to 1,28,690, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Sunday.

The death toll climbed to 5,25,428 with 42 new fatalities, the data updated at 8 am stated.

The active cases comprise 0.30 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 98.50 per cent, the ministry said.

An increase of 3,662 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours.

The daily positivity rate was recorded at 4.22 per cent while the weekly positivity rate was recorded at 4.08 per cent, according to the ministry

The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 4,29,68,533, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.20 per cent.

According to the ministry, 198.76 crore doses of Covid vaccine have been administered in the country so far under the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive.

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.

The 42 new fatalities include 24 from Kerala, five from Maharashtra, three each from Chhattisgarh and West Bengal, two from Delhi and one each from Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand and Sikkim.