India logs 5,921 new COVID-19 cases, 289 deaths

New Delhi: With 5,921 people testing positive for coronavirus infection in a day, India's total tally of COVID-19 cases now stands at 4,29,57,477 and that of active cases is at 63,878, according to Union Health Ministry data updated on Saturday.

The death toll due to the disease has climbed to 5,14,878 with 289 fresh fatalities being reported in a span of 24 hours, the data updated at 8 am showed. The count of daily COVID-19 cases has remained below one lakh for 27 consecutive days now. The active cases comprise 0.17 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has further improved to 98.65 per cent, the ministry said.

A reduction of 6,019 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours. The daily positivity rate was recorded at 0.63 per cent and the weekly positivity rate at 0.84 per cent, according to the ministry. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease has surged to 4,23,78,721, while the case fatality rate was recorded as 1.20 per cent, the data showed.

The cumulative number of doses administered in the country so far under the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive has exceeded 178.55 crore. India's COVID-19 infection 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, 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20 and the one-crore mark on December 19. The country crossed the grim milestones of two crore cases on May 4 last year and three crore on June 23.