New Delhi, May 21 (PTI) The daily rise in coronavirus cases in India remained below 3 lakh (300,000) for the fifth consecutive day with 259,000 new cases recorded in a single day, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Friday.
With a total of 259,551 fresh cases, India's total tally of COVID-19 cases climbed to 26,031,991.
The death toll climbed to 2,91,331 with 4,209 daily deaths, the data updated at 8 am showed.
The active cases further reduced to 30,27,925 comprising 11.63 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate improved to 87.25 per cent.
The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 2,27,12,735, while the case fatality rate has increased to 1.12 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, 32,44,17,870 samples have been tested up to May 20 with 20,61,683 samples being tested on Thursday.
The 4,209 new fatalities include 984 from Maharashtra, 548 from Karnataka, 397 from Tamil Nadu, 236 from Uttar Pradesh, 233 from Delhi, 191 from Punjab, 162 from West Bengal, 159 from Uttarakhand, 129 from Haryana, 128 from Kerala, 127 from Rajasthan, 114 from Andhra Pradesh and 113 from Chhattisgarh.,
A total of 2,91,331 deaths have been reported so far in the country including 85,355 from Maharashtra, 23,854 from Karnataka, 22,579 from Delhi, 19,131 from Tamil Nadu, 18,588 from Uttar Pradesh, 13,895 from West Bengal, 12,716 from Punjab and 12,295 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.
