New Delhi, May 18 (PTI) India's COVID-19 death toll climbed to 278,719 with a record 4,329 fresh fatalities, while the single day rise in coronavirus cases stood at 2.63 lakh, the lowest in 28 days, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Tuesday.
The country reported a total of 263,533 new cases in a span of 24 hours, taking the total tally of COVID-19 cases to 2,52,28,996, the data updated at 8 am showed.
A total of 2,59,170 cases were reported in a span of 24 hours on April 20.
The active cases further reduced to 33,53,765 comprising 13.29 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has improved to 85.60 per cent, the data updated at 8 am showed.
The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 2,15,96,512, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.10 per cent, the data stated.
India's COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 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. India crossed the grim milestone of 2 crore on May 4.
According to the ICMR, 31,82,92,881 samples have been tested up to May 17 with 18,69,223 samples being tested on Monday.
The 4,329 new fatalities include 1,000 from Maharashtra, 476 from Karnataka, 340 from Delhi, 335 from Tamil Nadu, 271 from Uttar Pradesh, 223 from Uttarakhand, 191 from Punjab, 157 from Rajasthan, 149 from Chhattisgarh, 147 from West Bengal, 114 from Haryana and 109 from Andhra Pradesh.
A total of 2,78,719 deaths have been reported so far in the country including 82,486 from Maharashtra, 22,313 from Karnataka, 21,846 from Delhi, 18,005 from Tamil Nadu, 17,817 from Uttar Pradesh, 13,431 from West Bengal, 12,086 from Punjab and 11,883 from Chhattisgarh.
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.
