India touches grim milestone of over 3 lakh total deaths from COVID-19, becomes 3rd country to hit the mark

With 4,454 new fatalities in the last 24 hours, India on Monday achieved a grim milestone as the country's COVID-19 death toll crossed the 3-lakh mark, the Union Health Ministry informed. 

However, the trajectory of declining fresh coronavirus infections continues further with 2,22,315 new cases being reported in the last 24 hours. As many as 2,40,842 fresh infections were reported on Sunday and 2,76,070 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday. 

According to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), the country recorded 3,02,544 fresh recoveries in the last 24 hours, outnumbering new cases. The cumulative caseload in India now stands 2,67,52,447 at including 27,20,716 active cases. The death toll mounted to 3,03,720, while the recovery tally reached 2,37,28,011.

This is the eighth consecutive day when India has recorded less than 3 lakh new cases. Karnataka, which has recently overtaken Maharashtra in the number of active infections, has now 4,73,007 active infections, making the state worse-hit by the pandemic followed by Maharashtra with 3,51,005 active cases and Kerala with 2,77,973 active cases.

On Sunday, the MOHFW informed that the daily coronavirus positivity rate has declined to 11.34 percent. The national recovery rate has improved further to touch 88.30 percent and the national mortality rate currently stands at 1.13 percent. 

On May 7, with 4,14,188 new COVID-19 cases being registered in the last 24 hours, India reported its highest single-day spike since the pandemic began last year. On May 17, India's daily spike of coronavirus cases remained below the 3 lakh mark for the first time after 26 days. Since then, the daily new cases in the country have been hovering below the 3-lakh mark. On May 19, India recorded the highest single-day COVID-19 fatalities with 4,529 new deaths in the last 24 hours. 

(With agency inputs)