India witnesses record 3.47 lakh Covid cases, 2,624 deaths in a day

New Delhi, April 24

A record single-day rise of 3,46,786 coronavirus cases pushed India's tally of infection to 1,66,10,481, while active cases crossed the 25-lakh mark, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Saturday.

The death toll rose to 1,89,544 with a record 2,624 more fatalities in a day, the data updated at 8 am showed.

With a steady increase, active cases in the country reached 25,52,940 and comprise 15.37 per cent of the total infections, while the national Covid recovery rate has further dropped to 83.49 per cent.

The number of people who have recuperated from the disease rose to 1,38,67,997, while the case fatality rate has dropped to 1.14 per cent, the data stated.

India crossed the grim milestone of a total of 1.5 crore Covid cases on April 19 this year.

According to the Indian Council of Medical Research, 27,61,99,222 samples have been tested for Covid till April 23 with 17,53,569 of them being examined on Friday. 

The new fatalities include 773 from Maharashtra, 348 from Delhi, 219 from Chhattisgarh, 196 from Uttar Pradesh, 142 from Gujarat, 190 from Karnataka, 78 from Tamil Nadu and 75 from Punjab.

A total of 1,89,544 deaths have been reported so far in the country, including 63,252 from Maharashtra, 14,075 from Karnataka, 13,395 from Tamil Nadu, 13,541 from Delhi, 10,825 from West Bengal, 10,737 from Uttar Pradesh, 8,264 from Punjab and 7,579 from Andhra Pradesh. PTI