COVID-19 in India: 17,921 fresh cases reported; Maharashtra worst affected

India's COVID-19 tally reached 1.12 crore with 17,921 fresh cases reported today. While 1.09 crore people have recovered from novel coronavirus, the death toll has climbed to 1,58,063, with 133 new fatalities reported on Wednesday.

The number of active COVID-19 cases in India stands at 1.84 lakh, which comprises 1.64% of the infection count. India's COVID-19 recovery rate stands at 96.96% whereas the national fatality rate teeters at 1.40%.

India's coronavirus graph has been on the rise since the past week, with Maharashtra being the worst-hit state. India's richest state has reported total 22, 38,938 COVID-19 cases so far.

Of these, over 20 lakh people have recovered whereas 52,556 people succumbed to the contagion. Maharashtra currently has 96,548 active COVID-19 cases, the health ministry's COVID-19 dashboard suggests.

States like Kerala (10,81,055), Karnataka (9,56,041), Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh (8,90,884) and Odisha (337,860) have reported a rise in total COVID-19 cases.

India's COVID-19 case count crossed the 20 lakh mark on August 7; 30 lakh on August 23; 40 lakh on September 5; and 50 lakh on September 16. The number of cases surged past 60 lakh on September 28; 70 lakh on October 11; 80 lakh on October 29; 90 lakh on November 20; and one crore on December 19, 2020.

According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), over 22 lakh samples have been tested till March 9, 2021. Of these, 7.6 lakh samples were tested on March 9, 2021. Meanwhile, over 2.40 crore people have been administered the COVID-19 vaccine till Tuesday.

With inputs from PTI

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