The daily new coronavirus infections in India dipped below 20,000 for the third time this month taking the COVID-19 caseload to 1,02,24,303, while the recoveries crossed 98 lakh, according to the Union health ministry data updated on Tuesday.
A total of 16,432 new infections were reported in a span of 24 hours, the lowest in little over six months, while the death toll increased to 1,48,153 with 252 new fatalities, the data updated at 8 am showed.
The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 98,07,569 pushing the national recovery rate to 95.92 per cent, while the COVID-19 case fatality rate stands at 1.45 per cent.
The COVID-19 active caseload remained below 3 lakh for the eighth consecutive day.
There are 2,68,581 active coronavirus infections in the country which comprises 2.63 per cent of the total caseload, 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.
According to the Indian Council of Medical Research, 16,98,01,749 samples have been tested up to December 28 with 9,83,695 samples being tested on Monday.
