India reports 3205 new Covid cases, 31 fatalities

India reported 3,205 new coronavirus infections in a day, pushing the number of active cases to 19,509 and the overall tally to 4,30,88,118, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated Wednesday.

The data released at 8 am also showed that 31 fatalities — 29 of them from Kerala alone — were reported in 24 hours, taking the cumulative death toll to 5,23,920.

The active cases constitute 0.05 percent of the total infections, the health ministry said, adding the country’s COVID-19 recovery rate is 98.74 percent.

The daily positivity rate was recorded at 0.98 percent while the weekly figure was recorded at 0.76 percent, the ministry said.

An increase of 372 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload which now stands at 19,509. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease rose to 4,25,44,689, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.22 percent. The cumulative doses administered in the country so far under the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive have exceeded 189.48 crores. India’s COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 2020, and surpassed the one-crore mark on December 19. It crossed the grim milestone of two crores on May 4 and three crores on June 23.

The 31 new fatalities include 29 from Kerala and one each from Maharashtra and Delhi, the data showed.

A total of 5,23,920 deaths have been reported so far in the country including 1,47,845 from Maharashtra, 69,112 from Kerala, 40,102 from Karnataka, 38,025 from Tamil Nadu, 26,176 from Delhi, 23,508 from Uttar Pradesh, and 21,202 from West Bengal. The health ministry stressed that more than 70 percent of the deaths occurred due to co-morbidities.

”Our figures are being reconciled with (those of) 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.