India records 6,650 fresh cases of COVID-19 infection, 374 more deaths

New Delhi, December 24, 2021

India today recorded 6,650 fresh cases of COVID-19 infection and 374 more deaths in the last 24 hours.

The 374 deaths posted in the country in the last 24 hours included 269 previously unreported fatalities in Kerala, where the data of the past many months is being reconciled and updated as per the broadened definition of COVID-19 deaths under new guidelines.

The country had yesterday reported 7,495 new cases of COVID-19 infection and 434 deaths, including 347 previously undeclared deaths in Kerala.

Not counting the 269 previously unreported deaths in Kerala, India today posted 105 deaths due to the coronavirus pandemic in the last 24 hours.

The Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (MoHFW) said a total of 358 cases of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 had been reported in India so far, of whom 114 had recovered.

Of the 358, Maharashtra accounted for 88 (with 35 recoveries), Delhi 67 (23), Telangana 38 (0), Karnataka 31 (15) and Gujarat 30 (5).

With the latest data released by the Ministry of Health of Family Welfare (MoHFW) this morning, the death toll in the country from COVID-19 so far has climbed to 479,133 today.

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 34,772,626 today.

Of the 105 COVID-19 deaths registered in India in the last 24 hours, Kerala accounted for 54 and Maharashtra 17.

All other states reported less than ten deaths each, with as many as 18 States and Union Territories posting zero deaths during this period. There was one COVID-19 death reported in national capital Delhi in the last 24 hours.

The number of those who have recovered from COVID-19 in the country rose to 34,215,977 today, up 7,051 from yesterday. The recovery rate stood at 98.40%, the highest since March 2020.

The number of active cases of COVID-19 in the country fell by 775 to 77,516 today.

The Ministry said that the number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country has crossed 140.31 crore, including 57.44 lakh doses administered during the last 24 hours.

The Weekly Positivity Rate stood at 0.59% today, below 1% for the last 40 days, while the Daily Positivity Rate was 0.57% today, below 2% for 80 consecutive days and below 1% for the 25th consecutive day.

NNN