India's daily COVID-19 tally continues to be above 3 lakh as 3,06,064 new cases have been reported in the last 24 hours, taking the tally to 3,95,43,328. The active cases rose by 62,130 and the caseload surged to 22,49,335, the highest in 241 days, as per the Union Health Ministry.

The new cases were the lowest in five days and they have declined for the third consecutive day. Statewise- Karnataka has reported 50,210 new cases, followed by Kerala 45,449, Maharashtra 40,805, the data updated at 8 am showed.

The positivity rate surged to 20.75 percent. It is above 20 percent for the first time since May 2021. Statewise -- Kerala's daily test positivity rate stood at 44.89 percent, followed by Goa 40.18 percent, Puducherry 39.51 percent. The active cases comprise 5.69 percent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate decreased to 93.07 percent, the ministry said.

In the last 24 hours, 439 fatalities were reported and the death toll stood at 4,89,848. Kerala reported 77 new deaths (including 39 backlog), followed by Maharashtra 44, Tamil Nadu 40, the data stated.

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.

First Published:Jan 24, 2022 9:58 AM IST