India records 13,058 new COVID-19 cases, lowest daily rise in 231 days

India logged 13,058 new coronavirus infections, the lowest in 231 days, taking the total tally of COVID-19 cases to 3,40,94,373, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Tuesday (October 19).

The death toll climbed to 4,52,454 with 164 fresh fatalities, while the active cases declined to 1,83,118, the lowest in 227 days, according to the data updated at 8 am.

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The daily rise in new coronavirus infections has been below 30,000 for 25 straight days, and less than 50,000 daily new cases have been reported for 114 consecutive days now.

“The active cases comprise 0.54 per cent of the total infections, the lowest since March 2020, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 98.14 per cent, the highest since March 2020,” the ministry said.

A decrease of 6,576 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in 24 hours. As many as 11,81,314 tests were conducted on Monday (October 18), taking the total cumulative tests conducted so far for detection of COVID-19 in the country to 59,31,06,188.

The daily positivity rate was recorded at 1.11 per cent. It has been less than three per cent for the last 50 days. The weekly positivity rate was also recorded at 1.36 per cent. It has been below three per cent for the last 116 days, according to the ministry.

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The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 3,34,58,801, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.33 per cent. The cumulative doses administered in the country so far under the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive has exceeded 98.67 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 164 new fatalities include 60 from Kerala and 27 from Maharashtra. A total of 4,52,454 deaths have been reported so far in the country including 1,39,816 from Maharashtra, 37,953 from Karnataka, 35,912 from Tamil Nadu, 26,925 from Kerala, 25,089 from Delhi, 22,898 from Uttar Pradesh and 18,989 from West Bengal.

The ministry stressed that more than 70 per cent of the deaths occurred due to co-morbidities. “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.