India reports 13,405 new Covid cases, 235 deaths

New Delhi, Feb 22: India logged 13,405 new coronavirus infections, taking the virus tally to42,851,929, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Tuesday.

The death toll climbed to 5,12, 344 with 235 fresh fatalities, the data updated at 8 am stated.

The daily COVID-19 cases have remained below one lakh for 16 consecutive days.The active cases declined to 1,81,075 comprising 0.42 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has further improved to 98.38 per cent, the ministry said.

A reduction of 21,056 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours.

The daily positivity rate was recorded as 1.24 per cent while the weekly positivity rate was recorded as 1.98 per cent, according to the ministry.

The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 4,21,58,510, while the case fatality rate was recorded as 1.20 per cent. The cumulative doses administered in the country so far under the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive has exceeded 175.83 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 235 new fatalities include 128 from Kerala and 21 from Karnataka.

A total of 5,12,344 deaths have been reported so far in the country including 1,43,586 from Maharashtra, 64,273 from Kerala, 39,816 from Karnataka, 37,981 from Tamil Nadu, 26,105 from Delhi, 23,435 from Uttar Pradesh and 21,143 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.