India adds 2.71 lakh cases, the highest in 225 days

India added 2.71 lakh new COVID infections, taking the total tally of cases to 3,71,22,164, including 7,743 cases of the Omicron variant, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Sunday.

The country saw 1,702 new cases of Omicron variant, the highest in a single day so far, and an increase of 28.17 per cent since Saturday.

Experts said it is not possible to undertake genome sequencing of each and every sample, but stressed that this wave is largely being driven by Omicron.

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The active cases have increased to 15,50,377, the highest in 225 days, while the death toll has climbed to 4,86,066 with 314 fresh fatalities, the data updated at 8 am stated.

The active cases comprise 4.18 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has decreased to 94.51 per cent, the ministry said.  An increase of 1,32,557 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours.

The daily positivity rate was recorded at 16.28 per cent, while the weekly positivity rate was recorded at 13.69 per cent, according to the ministry.

The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 3,50,85,721, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.31 per cent.

The cumulative doses administered in the country so far under the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive has exceeded 156.76 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 314 new fatalities include 106 from Kerala and 39 from West Bengal.

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A total of 4,86,066 deaths have been reported so far in the country including 1,41,779 from Maharashtra, 50,674 from Kerala, 38,418 from Karnataka, 36,967 from Tamil Nadu, 25,335 from Delhi, 22,953 from Uttar Pradesh and 20,052 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.