COVID-19: India records 4,100 more fatalities, 1,660 fresh cases

New Delhi: India's COVID-19 death toll climbed to 5,20,855 with 4,100 fatalities recorded in a day and Maharashtra reconciling the number of deaths caused by the viral disease in the state, the Union health ministry said on Saturday.

A total of 1,660 fresh cases have pushed the country's COVID-19 tally to 4,30,18,032, while the number of active cases has fallen below 20,000, according to the ministry's data updated at 8 am.

The number of active cases of the infection has declined to 16,741, the lowest in 702 days and accounting for 0.04 per cent of the total caseload. The national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 98.75 per cent, the ministry said.

Maharashtra reported a high death toll because of the inclusion of non-Covid fatalities (4,005) reported till Friday. The state reported two fresh deaths caused by the viral disease in the last 24 hours, according to a media bulletin.

A reduction of 4,789 cases was recorded in the country's active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours.

The daily positivity rate was recorded at 0.25 per cent, while the weekly positivity rate was 0.29 per cent, according to the health ministry.

A total of 6,58,489 tests were conducted to detect the infection in the last 24 hours. India has so far conducted over 78.63 crore Covid tests.

The number of people who have recuperated has gone up to 4,24,80,436, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.21 per cent.

The cumulative number of Covid vaccine doses administered in the country has exceeded 182.87 crore.

India's COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 2020, 30 lakh on August 23, 2020, 40 lakh on September 5, 2020 and 50 lakh on September 16, 2020.

It went past 60 lakh on September 28, 2020, 70 lakh on October 11, 2020, 80 lakh on October 29, 2020, 90 lakh on November 20, 2020 and the one-crore mark on December 19, 2020.

The country crossed the grim milestone of two crore cases on May 4, 2021 and the three-crore mark on June 23, 2021.

The 4,100 new fatalities include 4,007 from Maharashtra and 81 from Kerala.

Of the 5,20,855 Covid deaths recorded so far in the country, 1,47,779 are from Maharashtra, 67,631 from Kerala, 40,048 from Karnataka, 38,025 from Tamil Nadu, 26,150 from Delhi, 23,493 from Uttar Pradesh and 21,197 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 the state-wise distribution of the numbers is subject to further verification and reconciliation.