India witnesses 624 more Covid deaths; Chandigarh reconciles 256 old deaths

New Delhi, December 10

With 8,503 people testing positive for the coronavirus in a day, India's Covid tally climbed to 3,46,74,744, while the number of active cases rose to 94,943, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Friday.

The death toll mounted to 4,74,735 with the addition of 624 new fatalities, according to the data updated at 8 am.

The daily rise in new coronavirus infections has been recorded below 15,000 for the last 43 days now.

The number of active cases has increased to 94,943, comprising 0.27 per cent of the total infections, the lowest since March 2020, while the national Covid recovery rate was recorded at 98.36 per cent, the highest since March 2020,the Health Ministry said.

An increase of 201 cases has been recorded in the active Covid case count in a span of 24 hours.

The daily positivity rate was recorded at 0.66 per cent. It has been less than 2 per cent for the last 67 days.

The weekly positivity rate was recorded at 0.72 per cent. It has been below 1 per cent for the last 26 days, according to the Health Ministry.

The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 3,41,05,066, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.37 per cent.

The cumulative doses administered in the country so far under the nationwide Covid vaccination drive has exceeded 131.18 crore.

The 624 new fatalities include 256 from Chandigarh, 225 from Kerala, and 94 from Goa.

For Chandigarh, 256 deaths since March 2020 have been reconciled keeping in view the broadened definition of Covid deaths according to new guidelines after due field investigation and scrutiny of records. Out of these 256 deaths, 159 deaths are already part of the line list of Covid, the ministry said.

Of the 225 deaths in Kerala, 52 were logged over the last few days and 173 were designated as Covid deaths after receiving appeals based on the new guidelines of the Centre and the directions of the Supreme Court, a state government release said on Thursday.

According to state media bulletin of Goa, 94 additional deaths from August 2020 to June 2021 are added to cumulative deaths and have been reported late, the ministry said.

A total of 4,74,735 deaths have been reported so far in the country including 1,41,211 from Maharashtra, 42,239 from Kerala, 38,253 from Karnataka, 36,575 from Tamil Nadu, 25,100 from Delhi, 22,911 from Uttar Pradesh and 19,575 from West Bengal. PTI