India reports 16,299 new Covid cases, 53 deaths

In the last 24 hours, India reported 16,299 new Covid-19 cases and 53 deaths, the Union Health Ministry said on Thursday.

With the latest fatalities, the nationwide death toll now stands at 5,26,879.

The active caseload has declined to 1,25,076, accounting for 0.28 per cent of the country's total positive cases.

The recovery of 19,431 patients in the last 24 hours took the cumulative tally to 4,35,55,041. Consequently, India's recovery rate stands at 98.53 per cent.

While the daily positivity rate also declined to 4.58 per cent, the weekly positivity rate stood at 4.85 per cent.

Also in the same period, a total of 3,56,153 tests were conducted across the country, increasing the overall tally to over 87.92 crore.

As of Thursday morning, India's Covid-19 vaccination coverage exceeded 207.29 crore, achieved via 2,75,36,174 sessions

Over 3.96 crore adolescents have been administered with a first dose of Covid-19 jab since the beginning of vaccination drive for this age bracket.