India logs 7,495 new Covid-19 cases, 18.6% higher than yesterday

New Delhi, Dec 23: India recorded 7,495 new COVID-19 cases, 434 deaths in the last 24 hours, pushing the overall caseload to 3,47,65,976 and the total death toll to 4,78,759, as per data released by the Ministry of Health on Saturday (December 18, 2021). The country also recorded 8,706 recoveries today.

India's recovery rate now stands at 98.4 per cent. A total of 6,960 patients recovered in the last 24 hours, which brings the total recoveries to 3,42,08,926 across the country.

The active cases stand at 78,291, which is the lowest in 569 days.

The active cases comprise 0.25 percent of the total infections, the lowest since March 2020, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 98.38 percent, the highest since March 2020, the ministry said.

India has administered a total of 70,17,671 doses in the last 24 hours, which brings the total tally of doses administered to 1,39,69,76,774.

Top five states which have registered maximum cases are Kerala with 3,205 cases, followed by Maharashtra with 1,201 cases, Tamil Nadu with 604 cases, West Bengal with 534 cases and Karnataka with 321 cases. At least 78.24 per cent of the new cases are reported from these five states, with Kerala alone responsible for 42.76 per cent of the new cases.