COVID-19: India logged 44,877 new coronavirus infections and 684 fresh fatalities over the last 24 hours

Daily new COVID-19 cases in the country dipped below 50,000 after around 40 days, taking the country's virus tally to 4,26,31,421, while the active cases declined to 5,37,045, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Sunday.

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India logged 44,877 infections, while the death toll climbed to 5,08,665 with 684 fresh fatalities, the data updated at 8 am stated.

A total of 37,379 people had tested positive for the infection in a day on January 4.

The daily COVID-19 cases were recorded less than one lakh for seven consecutive days

The active cases comprise 1.26 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has further improved to 97.55 per cent, the ministry said.

A reduction of 73,398 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours.

The daily positivity rate was recorded at 3.17 per cent and the weekly positivity rate settled at 4.46 per cent, according to the ministry.

The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 4,15,85,711, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.19 per cent.

The cumulative doses administered in the country so far under the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive has exceeded 172.81 crore.

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 last year.

The 684 new fatalities include 427 from Kerala and 38 from Karnataka.

A total of 5,08,665 deaths have been reported so far in the country including 1,43,387 from Maharashtra, 62,053 from Kerala, 39,613 from Karnataka, 37,904 from Tamil Nadu, 26,060 from Delhi, 23,391 from Uttar Pradesh and 20,990 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.