India reported 21,257 new COVID-19 cases on Friday, just five per cent lower than a day before’s figure when the country reported 22,431 cases, and the active caseload the lowest since March 2020.at 2,40,221 also marked a decline.

With 21,257 people testing positive for the Coronavirus infection in a day, India’s total tally of cases rose to 3,39,15,569, while the number of active cases declined to 2,40,221, the lowest in 205 days, according to data updated by the Union Health Ministry on Friday.

The death toll has climbed to 4,50,127 with 271 new fatalities, according to Union Ministry of Health data.

The daily rise in Coronavirus infections has been below 30,000 for 14 straight days, it said.

The number of active cases has declined to 2,40,221, accounting for 0.71 per cent of the total infections, the lowest since March 2020, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 97.96 per cent, the highest since March 2020, the ministry said.

A decrease of 3,977 cases has been recorded in the active caseload in a span of 24 hours.

Also, 13,85,706 tests were conducted on Thursday taking the total number of tests conducted so far for detection of COVID-19 in the country to 58,00,43,190.

The daily positivity rate was recorded at 1.53 per cent. It has been less than three per cent for the last 39 days.

The weekly positivity rate was recorded at 1.64 per cent. It has been below three per cent for the last 105 days, according to the ministry.

The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 3,32,25,221, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.33 per cent.

Over 93.17 crore Covid vaccine doses have been administered in India till now. The government said 71 per cent of India’s adult population have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, while 27 per cent have got both doses.

The 271 new fatalities include 141 from Kerala and 49 from Maharashtra.

A total of 4,50,127 deaths have been reported so far in the country, including 1,39,411 from Maharashtra, 37,861 from Karnataka, 35,734 from Tamil Nadu, 25,952 from Kerala, 25,088 from Delhi, 22,896 from Uttar Pradesh, and 18,876 from West Bengal.

Kerala reported 12,288 fresh COVID-19 infections, taking the total active cases in the state to 1,18,744.

The Centre said 56 per cent of India’s Covid cases were reported from Kerala last week.

A four-member central team accessed the COVID-19 situation in Mizoram amid a worrying surge in infections in the northeastern state. Mizoram crossed one lakh Covid cases on Wednesday. Five states — Mizoram, Kerala, Sikkim, Manipur and Meghalaya — are reporting a weekly positivity rate of over five per cent.

West Bengal reported 13 fresh COVID-19 fatalities, raising the death count to 18,876, while the coronavirus tally mounted to 15,74,017 with 771 single-day cases.

Delhi recorded 44 new Covid-19 cases but zero daily deaths due to the disease, while the positivity rate was recorded at 0.07 per cent.