The single-day rise in new coronavirus infections inched closer to 3 lakh, pushing India's total tally of COVID-19 cases to 1,56,16,130, while the death toll increased to 1,82,553 with a record 2,023 daily fatalities, according to the Union health ministry data updated on Wednesday.
A total of 2,95,041 fresh infections were registered in a span of 24 hours, while the active cases crossed the 21-lakh mark, the data updated at 8 am showed.
Registering a steady increase for the 42nd in a row, the active cases have increased to 21,57,538, comprising 13.82 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has dropped to 85.01 per cent.
The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 1,32,76,039, while the case fatality rate has further dropped to 1.17 per cent, the data stated.
According to the Indian Council of Medical Research, 27,10,53,392 samples have been tested up to April 20 with 16,39,357 samples being tested on Tuesday.
The 2,023 new fatalities include 519 from Maharashtra, 277 from Delhi, 191 from Chhattisgarh, 162 from Uttar Pradesh, 149 from Karnataka, 121 from Gujarat,77 from Madhya Pradesh, 64 from Rajasthan, 60 from Punjab, 51 from Bihar, 48 from Tamil Nadu, 46 from West Bengal, 45 from Jharkhand and 35 each from Haryana and Andhra Pradesh.
A total of 1,82,553 deaths have been reported so far in the country including 61,343 from Maharashtra, 13,646 from Karnataka ,13,205 from Tamil Nadu, , 12,638 from Delhi, 10,652 from West Bengal, 10,159 from Uttar Pradesh, 8,045 from Punjab and 7,472 from Andhra Pradesh.
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.
