India records 16,838 fresh Covid cases

New Delhi: India's COVID-19 tally has climbed to 1,11,73,761 with 16,838 fresh cases reported in a day, while the number of patients who have recuperated from the disease has surged to 1,08,39,894, the Union Health ministry said on Friday.

The death toll due to the viral disease has gone up to 1,57,548 in the country with 113 more fatalities, the ministry's data updated at 8 am showed.

The number of active COVID-19 cases has increased to 1,76,319, accounting for 1.58 per cent of the total caseload, according to the data.

The number of people who have recuperated from the disease has gone up to 1,08,39,894, which translates to a national COVID-19 recovery rate of 97.01 per cent, while the case fatality rate stands at 1.41 per cent.

India, on Friday, recorded over one million vaccinations in a single day for the second day in a series as total 10,34,672 vaccine doses were given till 7 pm which scaled up the cumulative number of doses administered in the country to over 1.90 crore on the 49th day of the nationwide drive that was rolled out on January 16.

According to the Health ministry's provisional report, a total of 1,90,40,175 vaccine doses have been given till date out of which 68,96,529 are that healthcare workers (HCW) who have taken the first dose and 32,94,612 HCWs have taken the second dose, while there are 62,94,755 frontline workers (FLWs) who have been administered the first dose of the vaccine and 1,23,191 FLWs have been given the second dose.

In the category of senior citizens, 21,17,862 beneficiaries more than 60 years and 3,13,226 beneficiaries aged 45 and above with specific co-morbidities have been given the first dose of the vaccine, it said.

According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), 21,99,40,742 samples have so far been tested for the viral disease in the country, including 7,61,834 on Thursday.

The 113 new fatalities include 60 from Maharashtra, 15 from Punjab and 14 from Kerala.

India's total active caseload stands at 1.76 lakh (1,76,319) which comprises 1.58 per cent of India total infections.

The ministry said that Kerala, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal have shown a reduction in the active cases in a span of 24 hours.

Maharashtra, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Delhi and Gujarat display a rise in the active cases during the same time period.

Showing the change in number of active cases for states in the last one month, the ministry said Kerala, UP, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh and Tamil Nadu are the top five states showing a decline in active cases in the last one month, while Maharashtra, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana and Delhi are the top five states showing a rise in active cases.

The ministry said 20 states and UTs have less than 1,000 active cases. Arunachal Pradesh reported only two active cases.

The Cumulative Positivity Rate of the country shows a continuous decline and stands at 5.08 per cent.

Eight states display a weekly positivity rate higher than the national average (2.09%). Among them, Maharashtra stands out with a weekly positivity rate of 10.38 per cent.