India records over 18,000 new Covid cases for 3rd day, 97 fresh fatalities

New cases of coronavirus infection in India were recorded above 18,000 for the third consecutive day taking the tally of Covid-19 cases to 11,229,398

New cases of coronavirus infection in India were recorded above 18,000 for the third consecutive day taking the totaltally of COVID-19 casesto1,12,29,398, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Monday.

The active cases also registered an increase for the sixth consecutive day and the COVID-19 active caseload increased to1,88,747whichnow comprises1.68per cent of the total infections.

The recovery rate has dropped further to 96.91 per cent,the data stated.

A totalof 18,599new infections were registered in a day, while thedeath toll increased to1,57,853with 97daily new fatalities, the data updated at 8 am showed.

On January 29,18,855 new infections were recorded in a span of 24 hours.

Thenumber of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 1,08,82,798which translates to a national COVID-19 recovery rate of 96.91 per cent, while thecasefatality rate stands at 1.41per cent.

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

According to the ICMR,22,19,68,271 samples have been tested up toMarch 7with5,37,764samples being tested on Sunday.

The 97 new fatalities include 38 from Maharashtra,17 from Punjab and 13 fromKerala.

A total of1,57,853 deathshave been reported so far in the countryincluding52,478 from Maharashtra followed by 12,518 from Tamil Nadu,12,362 fromKarnataka,10,921 fromDelhi, 10,278 from West Bengal,8,737 from Uttar Pradesh and 7,174 fromAndhra 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 itswebsite, adding that state-wisedistribution of figures is subject to further verification and reconciliation.