India logs fresh 18,454 COVID cases, over 17,000 recoveries in 24 hours; active cases decline to 1.78 lakh

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India logs fresh 18,454 Covid cases, over 17,000 recoveries in 24 hrs; active cases decline to 1.78 lakh.

India recorded new 18,454 cases of the novel coronavirus, along with 160 deaths due to the infection in the past 24 hours. According to the data shared by the Union Health Ministry on Thursday, the country saw a total of 17,561 discharges in the last 24 hours, taking the total recovery rate at around 98.15 per cent which is the highest since March 2020 and total recoveries data reached to 3,34,95,808.

The total active cases of COVID-19 in India slightly dipped to 1,78,831, the ministry data showed.

The total death toll in the country is now at 4,52,811. In India, the first death due to COVID pandemic was reported in March 2020.

According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), 59,57,42,218 samples have been tested up to October 20 for COVID-19. Of these 12,47,506 samples were tested on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the cumulative COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country surpassed the 100-crore milestone on Thursday. In a tweet, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya congratulated the country on achieving the feat, and said it was the result of the able leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

According to official sources, around 75 per cent of India's all eligible adult population has been administered at least the first dose and around 31 per cent has received both the doses of the vaccine. India took 85 days to touch the 10-crore vaccination mark, 45 more days to cross the 20-crore mark and 29 more days to reach the 30-crore mark, according to the Union Health Ministry data.

Also, after recording less than 10,000 COVID cases for the last few days, fresh infections jumped to 11,150 in Kerala on Wednesday which raised the total caseload to 48,70,584. From October 14 to October 19, the state had recorded less than 10,000 fresh COVID cases daily.

On Wednesday, the state also recorded 82 deaths which took the total fatalities to 27,084. With 8,592 more people recovering from the virus since Tuesday, the total recoveries touched 47,69,373 and the active cases dropped to 82,738, a state government release said.