India logs 3,47,254 COVID-19 cases in 24 hours, highest in 235 days

India added 3,47,254 new coronavirus infections taking the total tally of COVID-19 cases to 3,85,66,027 which includes 9,692 cases of the Omicron variant, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Friday.

The active cases have increased to 20,18,825, the highest in 235 days, while the death toll has climbed to 4,88,396 with 703 fresh fatalities, the data updated at 8 am stated.

There has been a 4.36 per cent increase in Omicron cases since 20 January, 2022, the ministry said.

The active cases comprise 5.23 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has decreased to 93.50 per cent, the ministry said.

An increase of 94,774 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours.

The daily positivity rate was recorded at 17.94 per cent while the weekly positivity rate was recorded at 16.56 per cent, according to the health ministry.

The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 3,60,58,806, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.27 per cent.

The cumulative doses administered in the country so far under the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive has exceeded 160.43 crore.

India's COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on 7 August, 2020, 30 lakhs on 23 August, 40 lakhs on 5 September and 50 lakhs on 16 September. It went past 60 lakhs on 28 September, 70 lakhs on 11 October, crossed 80 lakhs on 29 October, 90 lakhs on 20 November and surpassed the one-crore mark on 19 December.

India crossed the grim milestone of two crore on 4 May, 2021, and three crores on 23 June.

The 703 new fatalities include 341 from Kerala and 43 from Delhi.

A total of 4,88,3961 deaths have been reported so far in the country including 1,41,971 from Maharashtra, 51,501 from Kerala, 38,515 from Karnataka, 37,112 from Tamil Nadu, 25,503 from Delhi, 23,000 from Uttar Pradesh and 20,230 from West Bengal.

The ministry stressed that more than 70 per cent of the deaths occurred due to comorbidities.