COVID-19 update: India records 6,618 cases, 21 fresh fatalities in 24 hours

The death toll has climbed to 5,27,932 with 21 new fatalities that include two deaths reconciled by Kerala, the data updated at 8 am stated.

The active cases comprise 0.13 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has increased to 98.68 per cent, the health ministry said. There has been a decline of 3,538 cases in the active COVID-19 caseload in 24 hours.The daily positivity rate was recorded at 1.94 per cent while the weekly positivity rate was 2.51 per cent, the health ministry said.

The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 4,38,55,365 while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.19 per cent. According to the ministry, 212.75 crore doses of Covid vaccine have been administered in the country so far under the nationwide vaccination drive.

India’s COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 2020, 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 two crore on May 4, three crore on June 23 last year and four crore on January 25 this year.

Delhi on Thursday recorded three more Covid-related deaths and 271 fresh cases with a positivity rate of 2.07 per cent, according to data shared by the city health department here. The new cases came out of 13,096 tests conducted the previous day, the department said in its latest bulletin.

Delhi on Wednesday recorded two Covid-related deaths and 377 cases with a positivity rate of 2.58 per cent. With the fresh cases, Delhi’s infection tally has increased to 19,99,888, while the death toll climbed to 26,472, it said

Tamil Nadu recorded 485 new COVID-19 infections that pushed the tally to 35,69,142, while the death toll remained unchanged at 38,035 with zero fatalities, the health department said on Thursday. As many as 519 people recuperated from the virus in the last 24 hours aggregating to 35,26,014, leaving 5,093 active cases, the department’s medical bulletin said.

Chennai and Coimbatore topped the list with 72 and 61 cases, respectively and the remaining infections were spread across other districts, it said. No fresh case was recorded in Kallakurichi and Perambalur in the last 24 hours, while 22 districts reported new cases below 10, it said. The state capital leads among districts with 2,199 active infections and overall 7,87,538 coronavirus cases.

Chhattisgarh on Thursday reported 120 new COVID-19 cases at a positivity rate of 1.73 per cent, taking the overall tally to 11,73,856, while the death toll increased by two to reach 14,112 in the state, an official said. The recovery count stood at 11,58,911 after 160 people recovered during the day, leaving the state with 833 active cases, he said.

“Surguja led with 21 cases, followed by 19 in Raipur, 13 in Durg and 6 in Bilaspur, among other districts. No fresh coronavirus cases were reported in four of the 28 districts in the state,” the official said.

Mumbai on Thursday reported 272 new coronavirus cases and four deaths linked to the infection for the second consecutive day, the city civic body said. With these additions, the overall COVID-19 tally rose to 11,45,095, while the death toll increased to 19,702, a Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) bulletin said.

On Wednesday, the financial capital had logged 638 coronavirus cases and four fatalities due to the viral infection. The city, after crossing the 1,000 tally mark last month, has been witnessing a steady decline in the daily COVID-19 cases.

As per the bulletin, the new COVID-19 cases were detected after 5,980 tests were conducted in the last 24 hours, taking their cumulative count to 1,81,04,369. A day ago, 8,734 COVID-19 tests were conducted in the city.

Mumbai’s tally of recuperated patients rose to 11,21,702 after 834 more patients recovered from the respiratory illness, said the BMC.

The city has a recovery rate of 98 per cent and is now left with 3,691 active COVID-19 cases, the bulletin said.

Of the 272 new COVID-19 cases, only 26 patients were symptomatic, it said. The growth rate of COVID-19 cases in the city was 0.051 per cent between August 25 and August 31, while the case doubling rate stood at 1,359 days.

West Bengal on Thursday reported 210 new COVID-19 cases and three more deaths, according to the Health Department.

The state has so far reported 21,07,260 cases and 21,468 deaths, it said. There are 2,418 active cases in the state at present. In the last 24 hours, 314 people recovered, taking the total recoveries to 20,83,274. The new cases were recorded after testing 9,184 samples.

Jammu and Kashmir recorded 147 fresh Covid cases on Thursday that took the infection tally to 4,77,931, officials said. No Covid-related fatality was reported, they said, adding that the death toll stands at 4,782.

Of the new cases, 26 were reported from Jammu division and 121 from the Kashmir valley, officials said. There are 1,051 active cases, while the overall recoveries has reached 4,72,098, they added.

There were 51 confirmed cases of mucormycosis (black fungus), officials said. One more person died from COVID-19 in Himachal Pradesh on Thursday as 121 fresh cases pushed the state’s infection count to 3,11,104, an official said.

So far, the infection has claimed 4,182 lives in the state. A 90-year-old man died in Kullu district, he added.

Meanwhile, 194 more patients recovered from the infection, the official said. The number of active cases stood at 824, he added. The number of recoveries has reached 3,06,078, the official said