India reported 3,17,532 fresh Covid cases in the last 24 hours, a substantial rise of around 12 per cent from the previous day, said the Union ministry of health and family welfare on Thursday.
On Wednesday, India had reported 2,82,970 new Covid cases, a rise of over 18 per cent from the previous day's count, and on Tuesday, 2,38,018 new infections were registered.
A total 491 deaths were reported in the last 24 hours on Thursday taking the toll to 4,87,693.
The active caseload has jumped to 19,24,051 which constitutes 5.03 per cent of the country's total positive cases.
The Omicron infection tally has risen to 9,287 across the nation, an increase of 3.63 per cent from Wednesday.
The recovery of 2,23,990 patients in the last 24 hours has increased the cumulative tally to 3,58,07,029. Consequently, India's recovery rate stands at 93.69 per cent.
Also in the same period, a total of 19,35,180 tests were conducted across the country. India has so far conducted over 70.93 crore cumulative tests.
Meanwhile, the weekly positivity rate has climbed to 16.06 per cent amid a sudden spike in cases. The daily positivity rate has declined to 16.41 per cent.
With the administration of over 73 lakhs vaccine doses in the last 24 hours, India's Covid inoculation coverage has reached 159.67 crore as of Thursday morning.
More than 12.72 crore balance and unutilised Covid vaccine doses are still available with the states and UTs to be administered, according to the health ministry as of Thursday morning.
(With inputs from IANS)
