338 new deaths push India’s COVID-19 death toll to 1,44,789

India recorded 22,890 new coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours, taking the total caseload to over 99.79 lakh. The number of fresh infections is 4.6 per cent down since Thursday.

Up to 338 more deaths were reported in this time, taking total fatality to 1,44,789 till now. Over 31,087 recovered since December 17, taking the overall figure to 95,20,827. India remains the second worst-hit country in the world after the US.

There are 3,13,831 active cases in the country, with a fall of 8,535 cases in a day.

The national recovery rate is at 95.40 percent and the COVID-19 case fatality rate stands at 1.45 percent.

According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), a cumulative total of 15,89,18,646 samples have been tested for COVID-19 up to December 17 with 11,13,406 samples being tested on Thursday.

Meanwhile, the Indian government will be spending about Rs 10,000 crore to inoculate the priority group of 30 crore Indians in the first phase of the Covid-19 vaccination drive, according to reports.

Phase 1 of vast inoculation exercise will be funded by the central government. While some states such as Bihar and Kerala have coronavirus vaccine will be given free of cost. More states are likely to make similar move soon.