Puducherry, Apr 8 (PTI) The union territory of Puducherry continued to remain coronavirus-free for a ninth straight day as no fresh infections were reported in the last 24 hours and the active cases stood at nil, a senior Health department official said on Friday. As many as 278 samples were tested in the last 24 hours ending 10 AM Friday and no new cases were detected, Director of Health G Sriramulu said in a release. The overall caseload remained at 1,65,774 and the recoveries stood at 1,63,812, he added. The test positivity rate was zero and the fatality and recovery rates remained 1.8 per cent and 98.82 per cent respectively, the Director said. The death toll stood at 1,962 as no fresh fatality was reported. The Department of Health has so far examined 22,30,306 samples and has found 18,75,234 out of them to be negative, the Director said. The department has so far administered 16,51,927 doses and they comprised 9,56,975 first doses, 6,79,110 second and 15,842 booster doses. PTI Cor SS SS