India records 2,68,833 fresh Covid cases, positivity rate at 16.66 per cent

New Delhi, Jan 15: India saw a single day jump of 2,68,833 new coronavirus infections, the highest in 239 days, taking the total tally of COVID-19 cases to 3,68,50,962 which includes 6,041 cases of the Omicron variant, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Saturday.

The active cases have increased to 14,17,820. The death toll has climbed to 4,85,752 with 402 fresh fatalities, the data updated at 8 am stated.

The active cases comprises 3.45 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has decreased to 94.83 per cent, the ministry said.

The daily positivity rate was recorded at 16.66 per cent up from 14.78 per cent yesterday, while the weekly positivity rate was recorded at 11.83 per cent. The country also recorded 1,22,684 recoveries today, taking the total number of recoveries to 3,49,47,390.

A total 2,76,110 coronavirus infections were reported in a single day on May 19. As per the ministry, over 1,56,02,51,117 crore COVID vaccine doses have been administered so far.

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.