The daily count of coronavirus cases in the country fell below the 2-lakh mark after over a month taking the total tally of COVID-19 cases to 2,69,48,874, while the death toll rose to 3,07,231, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Tuesday.
A total of 1,96,427 new coronavirus infections were reported in a day. The country also reported the lowest death toll in 21 days with 3,511 fresh fatalities, the data updated at 8 am showed.
India had registered 1,84,372 new coronavirus infections on April 14.
The active cases have further reduced to 25,86,782 comprising 9.60 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has improved to 89.26 per cent.
The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 2,40,54,861, while the case fatality rate stands at 1.14 per cent, the data stated.
India's COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 30 lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on September 5 and 50 lakh on September 16. It went past 60 lakh on September 28, 70 lakh on October 11, crossed 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20 and surpassed the one-crore mark on December 19. India crossed the grim milestone of 2 crore on May 4.
According to the ICMR, 33,25,94,176 samples have been tested up to May 24 with 20,58,112 samples being tested on Monday.
The 3,511 new fatalities include 592 from Maharashtra, 529 from Karnataka, 404 from Tamil Nadu, 207 from Delhi, 196 from Kerala, 187 from Punjab, 153 each from Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal, 122 from Uttarakhand and 103 from Rajasthan.
A total of 3,07,231 deaths have been reported so far in the country including 89,212 from Maharashtra, 25,811 from Karnataka, 23,409 from Delhi, 20,872 from Tamil Nadu, 19,362 from Uttar Pradesh, 14,517 from West Bengal, 13,468 from Punjab and 12,646 from Chhattisgarh.
The ministry stressed that more than 70 per cent of the deaths occurred due to comorbidities.
"Our figures are being reconciled with the Indian Council of Medical Research," the ministry said on its website, adding that state-wise distribution of figures is subject to further verification and reconciliation.