Coronavirus / India reports 18,222 new COVID-19 cases, 228 deaths in 24 hours

New Delhi: India reported 18,222 fresh coronavirus infections in the last 24 hours, taking the country's tally to 1,04,31,639.

According to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), 228 people died while 19,253 patients recovered from the disease in the same time frame.

With more recoveries reported than fresh cases, the number of active cases dropped to 2,24,190. The overall recoveries reached 1,00,56,651 while the death toll mounted to 1,50,798.

Kerala has the highest number of active cases (64,434), followed by Maharashtra at 53,006.

According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), a total of 18,02,53,315 samples were tested for Covid-19 up to January 8. Of these, 9,16,951 samples were tested yesterday.

On Friday, the Union Health Ministry informed that the share of active coronavirus cases in the total positive cases has further shrunk to 2.16 per cent and the recovery rate has also increased to 96.39 per cent.

It also said that the total number of cases infected with the new strain of the novel coronavirus, first reported in the United Kingdom, now stands at 82.