As many as 2,57,299 fresh COVID-19 infections and 4,194 deaths were reported in the country in the last 24 hours, the Union Health Ministry informed on Saturday.
According to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), the country recorded 3,57,630 fresh recoveries in the 24-hour period, outnumbering new cases.
The cumulative caseload in India now stands at 2,62,89,290 including 29,23,400 active cases. The death toll mounted to 2,95,525, while the recovery tally reached 2,30,70,365.
This is the sixth consecutive day when India has recorded less than 3 lakh new cases.
Karnataka, which has recently overtaken Maharashtra in the number of active infections, has now 5,14,259 active infections, making the state worst-hit by the pandemic. Maharashtra follows with 3,69,673 active cases.
As per the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), a total of 32,64,84,155 samples have been tested for COVID-19 up to May 21. Of them, 20,66,285 samples were tested on Friday, the highest so far in a single day since the pandemic began.
According to the Union Health Ministry, as many as 19,33,72,819 doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered so far since the commencement of the vaccination drive on January 16.
On Friday, the MOHFW informed that the daily coronavirus positivity rate has declined to 12.59 per cent while the national recovery rate has improved further to touch 87.25 per cent.
Eight states including Karnataka, Maharashtra, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh account for 69.47 per cent of India's total active infections, it said.
On May 7, with 4,14,188 new COVID-19 cases being registered in the last 24 hours, India reported its highest single-day spike since the pandemic began last year. On May 17, India's daily spike of coronavirus cases remained below the 3 lakh mark for the first time after 26 days.
Since then, the daily new cases in the country have been hovering below the 3-lakh mark.
( With inputs from ANI )
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