India records 36,083 new Covid cases, 493 deaths

Team Udayavani, Aug 15, 2021, 10:22 AM IST

New Delhi: India saw a single-day rise of 36,083 new coronavirus infections, raising its tally to 3,21,92,576, while the death toll has climbed to 4,31,225 with 493 fresh fatalities, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Sunday.

The active cases have declined to 3,85,336 and comprise 1.20 percent of the total infections.

The national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 97.46 percent, the data updated at 8 am showed.

A reduction of 2,337 cases has been recorded in the active coronavirus infections in a span of 24 hours, it stated.

The ministry said less than 50,000 daily new cases have been reported for forty-nine consecutive days.

As many as 19,23,863 tests were conducted on Saturday, taking the total cumulative tests done so far for detection of COVID-19 in the country to 49,36,24,440. The daily positivity rate was recorded at 1.88 percent. It has been less than 3 percent for the last 20 days.

The weekly positivity rate was recorded at 2 percent, according to the health ministry.

The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 3,13,76,015, while the case fatality rate stands at 1.34 percent, the data stated.

A total of 73,50,553 vaccine doses were administered in the last 24 hours. Cumulatively, 54.38 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered under the nationwide vaccination drive till Sunday morning, the ministry said.

India’s COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7 last year, 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, crossed 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20, and surpassed the one-crore mark on December 19.

The country crossed the grim milestone of two crore cases on May 4 and three crore cases on June 23.

The 493 new fatalities include 179 from Maharashtra and 105 from Kerala, the data stated.

A total of 4,31,225 deaths have been reported so far in the country, including 1,34, 909 from Maharashtra, 36,958 from Karnataka, 34,496 from Tamil Nadu, 25,069 from Delhi, 22,783 from Uttar Pradesh, 18,499 from Kerala, and 18,291 from West Bengal.

The health ministry stressed that more than 70 percent of the deaths occurred due to comorbidities.

”Our figures are being reconciled with the Indian Council of Medical Research,” the ministry said on its website, adding state-wise distribution of figures is subject to further verification and reconciliation.