With 22,752 fresh cases of Covid-19 in a day, India's virus caseload increased to 7,42,417 on Wednesday, while the death toll climbed to 20,642 with 482 people succumbing to the disease, according to the Union health ministry data.

The number of recoveries stands at 4,56,830, while there are 2,64,944 active cases of coronavirus infection presently in the country, the updated data at 8 am showed.

"Thus, around 61.53 per cent of patients have recovered so far," an official said.

The total number of confirmed cases included foreigners.

According to the ICMR, a cumulative total of 1,04,73,771 samples have been tested up to July 7 with 2,62,679 samples being tested on Tuesday.

Of the 482 deaths reported in the last 24 hours, 224 are from Maharashtra, 65 from Tamil Nadu, 50 from Delhi, 25 from West Bengal, 18 from Uttar Pradesh, 17 from Gujarat, 15 from Karnataka, 13 from Andhra Pradesh, 11 from Rajasthan, seven each from Bihar and Telangana, six from Punjab, five each from Jammu and Kashmir and Madhya Pradesh, four in Odisha, three from Haryana, two each from Jharkhand and Puducherry and one each in Chandigarh, Goa and Uttarakhand.

Of the total 20,642 deaths reported so far, Maharashtra accounted for the highest 9,250 fatalities followed by Delhi with 3,165 deaths, Gujarat with 1,977, Tamil Nadu with 1,636, Uttar Pradesh with 827, West Bengal with 804, Madhya Pradesh with 622, Rajasthan with 472 and Karnataka with 416.

The Covid-19 death toll reached 313 in Telangana, 279 in Haryana, 252 in Andhra Pradesh, 175 in Punjab, 143 in Jammu and Kashmir, 104 in Bihar, 43 in Uttarakhand, 42 in Odisha and 27 in Kerala.

Jharkhand has registered 22 deaths, Chhattisgarh, Assam and Puducherry 14 each, Himachal Pradesh 11, Goa eight, Chandigarh seven, Arunachal Pradesh two and Meghalaya, Tripura and Ladakh have reported one fatality each, according to the health ministry.

More than 70 per cent deaths took place due to comorbidities, it said.

Maharashtra has reported the highest number of cases at 2,17,121 followed by Tamil Nadu at 1,18,594, Delhi at 1,02,831, Gujarat at 37, 550, Uttar Pradesh at 29,968, Telangana at 27,612 and Karnataka at 26,815, according to the ministry data.

The number of Covid-19 cases has gone up to 23,837 in West Bengal, 21,404 in Rajasthan, 21,197 in Andhra Pradesh, 17,999 in Haryana and 15,627 in Madhya Pradesh.

It has risen to 12,570 in Bihar, 12,522 in Assam, 10,097 in Odisha and 8,931 in Jammu and Kashmir. Punjab has reported 6,749 novel coronavirus infections so far, while Kerala has 5,894 cases.

A total of 3,415 people have been infected by the virus in Chhattisgarh, 3,230 in Uttarakhand, 2,996 in Jharkhand, 1,903 in Goa, 1,704 in Tripura, 1,430 in Manipur, 1,083 in Himachal Pradesh and 1,041 in Ladakh.

Puducherry has recorded 930 Covid-19 cases, Nagaland 625, Chandigarh 494 and Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu together have reported 405 cases.

Arunachal Pradesh reported 276 cases, Mizoram has 197 cases, Andaman and Nicobar Islands has 147, Sikkim has registered 125 infections so far, while Meghalaya has recorded 80 cases.

"Our figures are being reconciled with the ICMR," the ministry said, adding that 5,018 cases are being reassigned to states.

State-wise distribution is subject to further verification and reconciliation, it added.