NEWDELHI, Dec 27, 2020 (BSS/PTI) – India registered 18,732 fresh cases of
COVID-19, the lowest in nearly six months, while 97,61,538 people have
recuperated so far from the disease pushing the national recovery rate to
95.82 per cent, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on
Sunday.
The death toll climbed to 1,47,622 with the novel coronavirus virus
claiming 279 lives in a span of 24 hours in the country, the data updated at
8 am showed.
A total of 18,732 daily new cases were recorded in the past 24 hours. The
number of new daily cases last reported a dip on July 1 when 18,653 cases
were registered.
The COVID-19 case fatality rate was registered at 1.44 per cent.
There are 2,78,690 active cases of coronavirus infection in the country
which comprises 2.73 per cent of the total caseload, the data stated.
According to the ICMR, a cumulative total of 16,81,02,657 samples have been
tested up to December 26 with 9,43,368 samples being tested on Saturday.
India’s COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 30 lakh
on August 23 and 40 lakh on September 5. It went past 50 lakh on September
16, 60 lakh on September 28, 70 lakh on October 11 and crossed 80 lakh on
October 29 and 90 lakh on November 20.
The 279 new fatalities include 60 from Maharashtra, 23 from Delhi, 33 from
West Bengal, 21 from Kerala, 14 from Uttar Pradesh, 13 from Uttarakhand and
12 each from Punjab and Chattisgarh.
A total of 147622 deaths have been reported so far in the country
including 49189 from Maharashtra followed by 12051 from Karnataka, 12059 from
Tamil Nadu, 10437 from Delhi, 9569 from West Bengal, 8293 from Uttar Pradesh,
7092 from Andhra Pradesh, 5281 from Punjab and 4275 from Gujarat.
The health ministry stressed that more than 70 per cent of the deaths
occurred due to comorbidities.
“Our figures are being reconciled with the Indian Council of Medical
Research,” the ministry said on its website, adding that state-wise
distribution of figures is subject to further verification and
reconciliation.