With over 8,000 Covid infections on Saturday, India has shown the highest daily cases in over three months amid fears of a fourth Covid wave.
A total of 8,329 fresh Covid-19 cases and 10 deaths were reported in the last 24 hours. While the total active cases stand at 40,370, the country saw 4,216 recoveries. On Friday, the country had reported 7,584 cases and 24 deaths.
A senior health official said that a total of 8,329 new coronavirus cases were reported in a span of 24 hours, while the death toll due to the disease has climbed to 5,24,757, as per the data updated at 8 am
The active cases now comprise 0.09 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 98.69 per cent, the Ministry said.
Seventeen districts in the country, including seven in Kerala and five in Mizoram, are reporting a weekly Covid positivity rate of more than 10 per cent, while in 24 districts, including seven in Kerala and four each in Maharashtra and Mizoram, the weekly positivity rate is between five and 10 per cent, the official said.
The top 10 states and Union territories of concern in terms of an increasing positivity rate are Kerala, Mizoram, Goa, Maharashtra, Delhi, Haryana, Sikkim, Chandigarh, Karnataka and Himachal Pradesh.
Six states and Union territories -- Kerala, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Delhi, Haryana and Tamil Nadu -- have more than 1,000 active Covid cases.
An increase of 4,103 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours, the data showed.
The daily positivity rate was recorded at 2.41 per cent and the weekly positivity rate at 1.75 per cent, according to the health ministry.
The number of people who have recuperated from the disease has surged to 4,26,48,308, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.21 per cent.
The cumulative number of doses administered in the country so far under the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive has exceeded 194.92 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, 50 lakh on September 16, 60 lakh on September 28, 70 lakh on October 11, 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20 and the one-crore mark on December 19, 2020.
The country crossed the grim milestones of two crore cases on May 4, 2021, and three crore on June 23.
Ten new fatalities due to the disease were recorded in the country — five from Kerala, two from Delhi and one each from Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.