India added 48,786 new cases of coronavirus taking the total tally to 3,04,11,634, while the national recovery rate improved to 96.97 per cent, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Thursday.

The COVID-19 death toll rose to 3,99,459 with 1,005 fresh fatalities.

According to the data published at 7 am, cumulatively 33.57 crore vaccine doses have been administered so far under the Nationwide Vaccination Drive.

The active cases have further declined to 5,23,257 comprising 1.72 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has improved to 96.97 per cent.

As many as 19,21,450 tests were conducted on Wednesday taking the total cumulative tests conducted so far for detection of COVID-19 in the country to 41,20,21,494.

The daily positivity rate was recorded at 2.54 per cent . It has been less than five per cent for 24 consecutive days, the ministry said, adding the weekly positivity rate has declined to 2.64 per cent.

Recoveries continue to outnumber daily new cases for the 49th consecutive day.The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 2,94,88,918, while the case fatality rate stands at 1.31 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 two crore on May 4 and three crore on June 23.

The 1,005 new fatalities include 221 from Uttarakhand, 142 from Kerala, 141 from Maharashtra, 113 from Tamil Nadu and 111 from Karnataka.

A total of 3,99,459 deaths have been reported so far in the country including 1,21,945 from Maharashtra, 35,040 from Karnataka, 32,619 from Tamil Nadu, 24,977 from Delhi, 22,591 from Uttar Pradesh, 17,708 from West Bengal and 16,052 from Punjab.

The health 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.