India adds 2,59,170 new Covid-19 cases in a day, record 1,761 fatalities

Active cases increased to 20,31,977, comprising 13.26 per cent of total infections in the country.

India's total tally of COVID-19 cases climbed to1,53,21,089with2,59,170new coronavirus infections being reported in a day, while active cases surpassed the 20-lakh mark, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Tuesday.

The death toll increased to1,80,530 with a record 1,761 new fatalities, the data updated at 8 am showed.

Registering a steady increase for the 41st day in a row, the active cases increased to 20,31,977, comprising 13.26 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has dropped to 85.56 per cent.

The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 1,31,08,582,while the case fatality rate has further dropped to 1.18 per cent, the data stated.

India's COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 30 lakh onAugust 23, 40 lakh on September 5 and50 lakh onSeptember 16.It went past60 lakh on September 28, 70 lakh on October 11, crossed 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh onNovember 20 andsurpassed theone-crore mark on December 19.

According to the ICMR, 26,94,14,035 samples have been tested up toApril 19with15,19,486 samples being tested on Monday.

The 1,716 new fatalities include 351 from Maharashtra, 240 from Delhi, 175 from Chhattisgarh, 167 from Uttar Pradesh, 146 from Karnataka, 117 from Gujarat, 83 from Punjab, 79 from Madhya Pradesh, 53 from Rajasthan, 46 from Jharkhand, 44 from Tamil Nadu, 41 from Bihar and 38 from West Bengal and 33 from Haryana.

A total of 1,80,530 deaths have been reported so far in the country including 60,824 from Maharashtra, 13,497 from Karnataka ,13,157 from Tamil Nadu, 12,361 from Delhi, 10,606 from West Bengal, 9,997 from Uttar Pradesh, 7,985 from Punjab and 7,437 from Andhra Pradesh.

The health ministry stressed that more than 70 per cent 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 that state-wise distribution of figures is subject to further verification and reconciliation.