India reports 17,336 new COVID-19 cases, highest daily rise in 4 months

India reported a single-day rise of more than 17,000 fresh COVID-19 cases on Friday after a gap of over four months (124 days), recording a 30 percent jump in daily cases, according to the Union Health Ministry.

A total 17,336 coronavirus cases were reported in a span of 24 hours, taking the total infection tally to 4,33,62,294, while the death toll due to the disease has climbed to 5,24,954 with 13 new fatalities being reported, data updated by the ministry at 8 am showed.

The daily positivity rate was recorded at 4.32 percent and the weekly positivity rate at 3.07 percent, according to the ministry.

The count of active cases has increased to 88,284, comprising 0.20 percent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 98.59 percent, it said.

An increase of 4,294 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours, the data showed.

The number of people who have recuperated from the disease has surged to 4,27,49,056, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.21 percent.

According to the ministry, 196.77 crore vaccine doses have been administered in the country so far under the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive.

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

The country crossed the grim milestones of two crore cases on May 4, 2021, three crore on June 23, 2021, and four crore on January 25 this year.

Thirteen new fatalities due to the disease were reported in the country - seven from Kerala, two from Punjab, and one each from Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, and Maharashtra.