India records 252 COVID-19 deaths, 26,115 fresh cases of infection in last 24 hours

New Delhi, September 21, 2021

India today recorded 252 more deaths due to COVID-19 and 26,115 fresh cases of infection in the last 24 hours -- significantly lower than the numbers registered yesterday.

The country had posted 295 COVID-19 deaths and 30,256 new cases of infection yesterday.

Kerala, which has been posting consistently high COVID-19 numbers for the past many weeks, also saw a drop in numbers, with 15,692 cases and 92 deaths logged in the last 24 hours as compared to 19,653 cases and 152 deaths yesterday.

The state, however, accounted for 60% of the new cases of infection and more than one-third of the deaths in the country in the last 24 hours.

The number of new cases in the country has now stayed below the 50,000-mark for 84 consecutive days. It has remained below 40,000 for 12 days now. The number dropped below 30,000 again today.

With the latest data released by the Ministry of Health of Family Welfare (MoHFW) this morning, the death toll in the country so far has climbed to 445,385.

The total number of cases of infection till now, since the first cases of COVID-19 were reported in India in late January 2020, rose to 33,504,534 today.

Of the 252 COVID-19 deaths registered in India in the last 24 hours, Kerala accounted for the highest number at 92, followed by 31 in Punjab, 28 in Maharashtra, 24 in Karnataka, 23 in Tamil Nadu, 12 in West Bengal and 10 in Assam.

All other states reported less than 10 deaths each, with as many as 14States and Union Territories, including national capital Delhi, posting zero deaths during the last 24 hours.

The number of those who have recovered from COVID-19 in the country rose to 32,749,574, up 34,469 from yesterday. The recovery rate stood improved to 97.74%-- the highest since March 2020 -- from 97.71% yesterday.

The number of active cases in the country dropped by 8,506 to 309,575 today, the lowest in 184 days.

The Health Ministry said the total number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country so far had risen to 81.85 crore today, including 96.46 akh doses administered in the last 24 hours.

The Weekly Positivity Rate stood at 2.08% today, below 3% for the 88th day, while the Daily Positivity Rate was 1.85% today, below 3% for 22 consecutive days now.

NNN