Covid-19: India records 2,35,532 new cases in last 24 hours, deaths soar by 871

India continued a downward trajectory on the Covid-19 graph with 2,35,532 new cases of the coronavirus disease being recorded in the last 24 hours, while the deaths soared by 871, the Union health ministry bulletin showed on Saturday morning. The cumulative caseload surged to 40,858,241.

The positivity rate for daily infections in the country dropped from 15.8 per cent to 13.39 per cent today.

India's active caseload currently stands at 20,04,333, with cases dropping by 1,01,278 in the span of a day. Active cases now account for 4.91 per cent of the total infections.

As many as 3,35,939 people recovered from the viral disease in the last 24 hours, taking the total recoveries to over 38 million. The recovery rate surged to 98.89 per cent.

A total of 1.6 billion vaccine doses have been administered so far under the nationwide Covid-19 vaccination drive, the ministry data showed. This includes 56,72,766 doses in the last 24 hours, comprising 6,74,623 booster shots for the eligible population and 5,84,492 first doses in the 15-18 age group.

India's crossed the one-crore mark in Covid-19 cases on December 19, 2020. It surpassed the grim milestone of two crore on May 4 last year, subsequently crossing three crore on 23 June.