New Delhi: With 13,823 new coronavirus infections reported in the last 24 hours, India's COVID-19 caseload rose to 1,05,95,660, while the recoveries surged to 1,02,45,741, the Union Health Ministry said on Wednesday.
The death toll due to the disease increased to 1,52,718 in the country as 162 new fatalities were recorded, the ministry data updated at 8 am showed.
The total number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 1,02,45,741, pushing the national COVID-19 recovery rate to 96.70 per cent.
The COVID-19 case fatality rate stands at 1.44 per cent, it said.
The active caseload remained below 3 lakh. There are 1,97,201 active coronavirus infections in the country, which comprises 1.86 per cent of the total caseload, the data stated.
India's COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20 lakh-mark on August 7, 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, 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20 and surpassed the one crore-mark on December 19.
According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), 18,85,66,947 samples have been tested till January 19, with 7,64,120 samples being tested on Tuesday.
The Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan on Tuesday said that five states are the major contributor to the total active cases.
Kerala tops the charts with 34.22 per cent of the total active infections, followed by Maharashtra at 25.88 per cent, Uttar Pradesh at 4.30 percent, Karnataka at 4.02 per cent and West Bengal at 3.44 per cent.
About 72 per cent of the daily new cases are reported from six states -- Kerala, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh and Karnataka.
It is Maharashtra, Kerala, West Bengal, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Delhi, Chhattisgarh and Uttarakhand who have logged 73 per cent of the total daily deaths.
The most-awaited mass vaccination drive started on January 16, with approval of two Covid vaccines in the country. As many as 6.31 lakh beneficiaries have received doses of Covid vaccines so far.
(With Agency Inputs)