India reports 20,557 new COVID-19 cases, 40 deaths; West Bengal, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu log most number of infections

New Delhi: India has reported 32.38 per cent rise in daily COVID-19 cases on Wednesday. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) today morning said that the country has added 20,557 fresh infections of coronavirus in the last 24 hours.On Tuesday, the health ministry said that the country had logged 15,528 new cases of COVID-19. The country's total tally of novel coronavirus cases has increased to 4,38,03,619 (4 crore 38 lakh 3 thousand 6 hundred and 19).The daily COVID-19 positivity rate has increased to 4.13 per cent from 3.32 per cent on Tuesday. The weekly positivity rate today was reported at 4.64 per cent.COVID-19 deaths in IndiaThe country has reported 40 COVID-19 related deaths in the last 24 hours. Total fatalities due to the virus in the country has now increased to 5,25,825 (5 lakh 25 thousand 8 hundred and 25).Of the total COVID-19 casualties reported in the last 24 hours, Kerala 11, six each were reported from West Bengal and Maharashtra, four from Punjab, three from Sikkim, two from Delhi and one each from Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Manipur, Odisha and Rajasthan.States reporting most number of new COVID-19 casesWest Bengal has been witnessing spike in the new COVID-19 cases. The state reported 2,243 fresh cases in the last 24 hours. There are 28,969 active COVID cases in Bengal.Maharashtra added 2,279 new COVID-19 cases, up by 1,168 from a day ago.Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu reported 2,142 new cases, including four returnees from Malaysia. Four districts accounted for the majority of new cases with Chennai adding 561, Chengalpet 296, Coimbatore 179, Tiruvallur 106 while the remaining was spread across other districts.Karnataka logged 1,151 fresh COVID-19 cases with Bengaluru urban district contributed 1,013, while there were 24 cases in Mysuru, 17 in Dharwad, 13 in Hassan, 10 in Tumakuru, nine in Belagavi and, eight each in Chikkamagaluru and Dakshina Kannada.Active COVID cases in IndiaIndia now has 1,45,654 (1 lakh 45 thousand 6 hundred and 54) active cases of COVID-19. There has been an increase of 2,000 cases in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours.Active cases comprise 0.33 per cent of the total infectionsIndia COVID-19 recoveriesAs per the health ministry, 18,517 patients recuperated from COVID-19 in the last 24 hours, increasing the country's total recoveries to 4,31,32,140 (4 crore 31 lakh 32 thousand 1 hundred and 40).The country's recovery rate currently stands at 98.47 per cent.COVID-19 tests in IndiaAccording to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), 4,98,034 (4 lakh 98 thousand and 34) COVID-19 tests were conducted in the country in the last 24 hours.As many as 87,06,53,486 (87 crore 6 lakh 53 thousand 4 hundred and 86) samples have been tested for COVID-19 across India since the start of the pandemic.COVID-19 vaccinationThe nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive was started in India on 16 January, 2021. So far, over 200.61 crore vaccine doses have been administered to people.As per the latest bulletin by the health ministry, 26,04,797 (26 lakh 4 thousand 7 hundred and 97) doses of COVID-19 vaccine were administered to the eligible beneficiaries.With inputs from agencies