India logs 14,623 new Covid cases, 197 more deaths

New Delhi, October 20

India logged 14,623 new coronavirus infections, taking the total tally of Covid cases to 3,41,08,996, while the active cases declined to 1,78,098, the lowest in 229 days, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Wednesday.

The death toll climbed to 4,52,651 with 197 fresh fatalities, according to the data updated at 8 am.

The daily rise  in new coronavirus infections has been below 30,000 for 26 straight days and less than 50,000 daily new cases have been reported for 115 consecutive days now.

The active cases comprise 0.52 per cent of the total infections, the lowest since March 2020, while the national Covid recovery rate was recorded at 98.15 per cent, the highest since March 2020, the ministry said.

A decrease of 5,020 cases has been recorded in the active Covid caseload in a span of 24 hours.

The 197 new fatalities include 77 from Kerala and 49 from Maharashtra.

A total of 4,52,651 deaths have been reported so far in the country, including 1,39,865 from Maharashtra, 37,967 from Karnataka, 35,928 from Tamil Nadu, 27,002 from Kerala, 25,090 from Delhi, 22,898 from Uttar Pradesh and 18,998 from West Bengal. PTI