COVID-19: Active cases decline to 1,72,594

• Sunday | 24th October, 2021

New Delhi, Oct 24 (PTI) India added 15,906 new COVID-19 cases, taking the total tally to 3,41,75,468, while the active cases declined to 1,72,594, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Sunday.The death toll climbed to 4,54,269 with 561 fresh fatalities, according to the data updated at 8 am.Kerala has reconciled 399 fatalities from the previous period. Hence, the death toll is higher, officials said, adding that 65 deaths have been reported from Kerala in the last 24 hours.The daily rise in new coronavirus infections has been below 30,000 for 30 straight days and less than 50,000 daily new cases have been reported for 119 consecutive days now.The active cases comprise 0.51 per cent of the total infections, the lowest since March 2020, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 98.17 per cent, the highest since March 2020, the ministry said.A decrease of 1,134 cases has been recorded in the total active number of COVID-19 cases in a span of 24 hours.Also, 13,40,158 tests were conducted on Saturday, taking the total cumulative tests conducted so far for detection of COVID-19 in the country to 59,97,71,320. The daily positivity rate was recorded at 1.19 per cent and the weekly positivity rate was also recorded at 1.23 per cent, according to the  ministry.The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 3,35,48,605, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.33 per cent.The cumulative doses administered in the country so far under the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive has exceeded 102.10 crore.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 and three crore on June 23.The 561 new fatalities include 464 from Kerala and 33 from Maharashtra.A total of 4,54,269 deaths have been reported so far in the country, including 1,39,998 from Maharashtra, 38,002 from Karnataka, 36,004 from Tamil Nadu, 28,229 from Kerala, 25,091 from Delhi, 22,899 from Uttar Pradesh and 19045 from West Bengal.The 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. PTI UZM DV DV