New Delhi: India added 45,083 new coronavirus infections taking the total tally of COVID-19 cases to 3,26,95,030, while active cases registered an increase for the fifth consecutive day, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Sunday.
The death toll has climbed to 4,37,830 with 460 fresh fatalities, according to the data updated at 8 am.
The active cases have increased to 3,68,558 comprising 1.13 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 97.53 per cent, the ministry said.
An increase of 8,783 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours.
As many as 17,55,327 tests were conducted on Saturday taking the total cumulative tests conducted so far for detection of COVID-19 in the country to 51,86,42,929.
The daily positivity rate was recorded at 2.57 per cent. It has been less than three per cent for the last 34 days.
The weekly positivity rate was recorded at 2.28 per cent. It has been below three per cent for the last 65 days, according to the ministry.
The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 3,18,88,642, while the case fatality rate stands at 1.34 per cent, the data stated.
Cumulatively, 63.09 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered under the nationwide vaccination drive till Sunday morning.
More than 73.8 lakh doses have been administered in a 24 hours span, according to the ministry.
Meanwhile, the first commercial batch of Covaxin was released on Sunday from the new plant of Bharat Biotech at Ankleshwar in Gujarat's Bharuch district by Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya who described the development as a "landmark moment in the journey of India's fight against COVID-19."
Dedicating the release of the first batch of the anti-COVID 19 vaccine from Bharat Biotech's Chiron Behring Vaccines facility to the nation, the health minister said the new plant has a manufacturing capacity of more than 1 crore doses per month starting Sunday, and products from the facility will be available for supplies starting September 2021, as per an official release.
"Vaccination is the most important thing to strengthen the country's fight against coronavirus. Released the first commercial batch of #COVAXIN from Bharat Biotech's plant at Ankleshwar, Gujarat today. This will increase the supply of vaccine in the country and will help the vaccine reach every Indian," Mandaviya tweeted soon after the event.
Indian multinational biotechnology company headquartered in Hyderabad, Bharat Biotech, has already deployed multiple production lines at its Hyderabad, Malur, Bengaluru, and Pune campuses, and the addition of Chiron Behring, Ankleshwar will further augment its Covaxin production capacity, the company said.