New COVID-19 cases dip to 2.22 lakh, death toll crosses 3-lakh mark

New Delhi: Fresh COVID-19 infections in India dipped to 2,22,315, the lowest in round 38 days, pushing the total tally of coronavirus cases to 2,67,52,447, while the death toll crossed the 3-lakh mark, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Monday.

The death toll climbed to 3,03,720 with 4,454 daily deaths, the data updated at 8 am showed.

India had registered 2,17,353 new infections on April 16.

The active cases have further reduced to 27,20,716 comprising 10.17 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has improved to 88.69 per cent. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 2,37,28,011, while the case fatality rate has increased to 1.14 per cent, the data stated. 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. India crossed the grim milestone of 2 crore on May 4. According to the ICMR, 33,05,36,064 samples have been tested up to May 23 with 19,28,127 samples being tested on Sunday.

The 4,454 new fatalities include 1,320 from Maharashtra, 624 from Karnataka, 422 from Tamil Nadu, 231 from Uttar Pradesh, 192 from Punjab, 189 from Delhi, 188 from Kerala, 156 from West Bengal, 107 from Bihar, and 104 from Andhra Pradesh.

A total of 3,03,720 deaths have been reported so far in the country including 88,620 from Maharashtra, 25,282 from Karnataka, 23,202 from Delhi, 20,468 from Tamil Nadu, 19,209 from Uttar Pradesh, 14,364 from West Bengal, 13,281 from Punjab and 12,586 from Chhattisgarh.

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.