India reports 2.86 lakh new COVID-19 cases, active cases decline to 22,02,472

New Delhi: With 2,86,384 people testing positive for coronavirus infection in a day, India's total tally of COVID-19 cases rose to 4,03,71,500, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Thursday.

The death toll has climbed to 4,91,700 with 573 fresh fatalities, the data updated at 8 am stated.

The active cases have decreased to 22,02,472 and comprise 5.46 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has decreased to 93.33 per cent, the ministry said.

A reduction of 20,546 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours.

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.

India crossed the grim milestone of two crore on May 4 and three crore on June 23.

The 573 new fatalities include 140 from Kerala and 79 from Maharashtra.

A total of 4,91,700 deaths have been reported so far in the country including 1,42,316 from Maharashtra, 52,281 from Kerala, 38,705 from Karnataka, 37,359 from Tamil Nadu, 25,710 from Delhi, 23,106 from Uttar Pradesh and 20,445 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.