India reports 2,85,914 fresh Covid cases, positivity rate 16.16 per cent

New Delhi, Jan 26: India on Wednesday reported 2,85,914 new coronavirus cases, along with 665 fatalities in the past 24 hours, Union Health Ministry data showed. Active cases declined to 22,23,018.

The death toll has climbed to 4,91,127 with 665 fresh fatalities, the data updated at 8 am stated.

Kerala reported 55,475 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, the highest ever reported from the state in a single day since the outbreak of the pandemic in 2020, taking the total affected to 57,25,086.

The active cases have decreased to 22,23,018 and comprise 5.55 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has decreased to 93.23 per cent, the ministry said.

A reduction of 13,824 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours.

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.