India logs 44 new Covid fatalities

India added 20,557 new coronavirus infections pushing the total tally of COVID-19 cases to 4,39,59,321, while the active cases increased to 1,46,323, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Thursday. The death toll climbed to 5,26,211 with 44 new fatalities, the data updated at 8 am stated. The active cases comprise 0.33 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 98.47 per cent, the ministry said. An increase of 1,297 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours. According to the ministry, 203.21 crore doses of Covid vaccine have been administered in the country so far under the nationwide vaccination drive. The daily positivity rate was recorded at 5.18 per cent and the weekly positivity rate was recorded at 4.71 per cent, according to the ministry. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 4,32,86,787, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.20 per cent. According to the ministry, 203.21 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. The country crossed the grim milestone of two crore on May 4 and three crore on June 23 last year. It crossed the four-crore mark on January 25 this year. The 44 new fatalities include 12 from Kerala, eight from Maharashtra, five from West Bengal, two each from Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur and Tripura and one each from Assam, Chandigarh, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Odisha and Sikkim.