India logs 18,870 new Covid-19 cases, 378 deaths

New Delhi, Sep 29: India has recorded 18,870 fresh coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, taking the nationwide tally to 33,716,451, while the death toll climbed to 447,751 with 378 daily fatalities, according to the Union ministry of health and family welfare on Wednesday.

Out of 18,870 new COVID19 cases and 378 deaths across India, 11,196 cases and 149 deaths were reported in Kerala.

Kerala was followed by Tamil Nadu with 1,630 cases, Mizoram with 1,380 cases, Andhra Pradesh with 771 cases and West Bengal with 708 cases.

The active cases comprise 0.84 per cent of the total infections, the lowest since March 2020, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 97.83 per cent, the highest since March 2020, the ministry said.

A decrease of 9,686 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours.

As many as 15,04,713 tests were conducted on Tuesday taking the total cumulative tests conducted so far for detection of COVID-19 in the country to 56,74,50,185.

The daily positivity rate was recorded at 1.25 per cent. It has been less than three per cent for last 30 days. The weekly positivity rate was recorded at 1.82 per cent. It has been below three per cent for the last 96 days, according to the ministry.

The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 3,29,86,180, 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 87.66 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 378 new fatalities include 149 from Kerala, 64 from Haryana and 60 from Maharashtra.

A total of 4,47,751 deaths have been reported so far in the country including 1,38,962 from Maharashtra, 37,763 from Karnataka, 35,526 from Tamil Nadu, 25,087 from Delhi, 24,810 from Kerala, 22,891 from Uttar Pradesh and 18,764 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.