The single-day rise in new coronavirus infections inched closer to 3 lakh, pushing India's total tally of COVID-19 cases to 1,56,16,130, while the death toll increased to 1,82,553 with a record 2,023 daily fatalities, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Wednesday. A total of 2,95,041 fresh infections were registered in a span of 24 hours, while the active cases crossed the 21-lakh mark, the data updated at 8 am showed. Registering a steady increase for the 42nd in a row, the active cases have increased to 21,57,538, comprising 13.82 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has dropped to 85.01 per cent. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 1,32,76,039, while the case fatality rate has further dropped to 1.17 per cent, the data stated.

The single-day rise in new coronavirus infections inched closer to 3 lakh, pushing India's total tally of COVID-19 cases to 1,56,16,130, while the death toll increased to 1,82,553 with a record 2,023 daily fatalities, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Wednesday. A total of 2,95,041 fresh infections were registered in a span of 24 hours, while the active cases crossed the 21-lakh mark, the data updated at 8 am showed. Registering a steady increase for the 42nd in a row, the active cases have increased to 21,57,538, comprising 13.82 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has dropped to 85.01 per cent. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 1,32,76,039, while the case fatality rate has further dropped to 1.17 per cent, the data stated.