India's daily Covid-19 cases drop, but fatalities still remain high

THE daily rise in coronavirus cases in India remained below the three lakh-mark for the sixth consecutive day, with 2.57 lakh new cases recorded in a single day, the union health ministry said on Saturday (22).

With the fresh cases, India's tally of Covid-19 cases climbed to 2,62,89,290.

The death toll due to the disease climbed to 2,95,525 with 4,194 fresh fatalities, the latest data said.

The active cases further reduced to 29,23,400 comprising 11.12 per cent of the total infections, while the national Covid-19 recovery rate improved to 87.76 per cent

The number of people who have recuperated from the disease in the country surged to 2,30,70,365, while the case fatality rate stood at 1.12 per cent, the data stated.

Meanwhile, over 20.66 lakh Covid-19 tests were conducted in a span of 24 hours in the country, the highest-ever done in a single day, the Union health ministry said on Saturday (22).

In a statement, the ministry said it is also the fourth successive day that the number of tests has been more than 20 lakh.

"With more than 20.66 lakh tests conducted in the last 24 hours, India has again set a new record of highest tests conducted in a day," it said.

Also, over 19.33 crore vaccine doses have been administered in the country under the inoculation drive against the coronavirus, the statement said.

The 4,194 new fatalities include 1,263 from Maharashtra, 467 from Tamil Nadu, 353 from Karnataka, 252 from Delhi, 172 each from Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, 159 from West Bengal, 142 from Kerala, 129 from Rajasthan, 116 from Uttarakhand, 112 from Haryana, 104 from Andhra Pradesh and 96 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 ICMR," the ministry said on its website, adding that state-wise distribution of figures is subject to further verification and reconciliation.