India reports 20,528 new coronavirus cases, 49 fatalities

PTI, Jul 17, 2022, 10:01 AM IST

With 20,528 new coronavirus infections being reported in a day, India’s tally of COVID-19 cases rose to 4,37,50,599, while the active cases increased to 1,43,449, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Sunday.

The death toll climbed to 5,25,709 with 49 new fatalities, the data updated at 8 am stated.

The active cases comprise 0.33 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 98.47 per cent, the ministry said.

An increase of 2,689 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours.

The daily positivity rate was recorded at 5.23 per cent and the weekly positivity rate at 4.55 per cent, according to the ministry

The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 4,30,81,441 while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.20 per cent.

According to the ministry, 199.98 crore doses of Covid vaccine have been administered in the country so far under the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive.

India’s COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 2020, 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 on May 4 and three crore on June 23 last year. It crossed the four-crore mark on January 25 this year.

The 49 new fatalities include 17 from Kerala, eight from Maharashtra, six from West Bengal, three each from Karnataka and Punjab, two each from Assam, Delhi, Jharkhand and one each from Bihar, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Pondicherry, Tripura and Uttarakhand.

A total of 5,25,709 deaths have been reported so far in the country including 1,48,023 from Maharashtra, 70,250 from Kerala, 40,130 from Karnataka, 38,029 from Tamil Nadu, 26,291 from Delhi, 23,551 from Uttar Pradesh and 21,271 from West Bengal.

The 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.