India recorded less than 60,000 new coronavirus infections after 81 days taking the total tally of Covid-19 cases to 2,98,81,965, while the active cases further reduced to 7,29,243, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Sunday.

A total of 58,419 fresh infections were reported in a day.

The death toll climbed to 3,86,713 with 1,576 fresh fatalities, the lowest in 63 days.

The active cases further declined to 7,29,243 comprising 2.44 per cent of the total infections, while the national Covid-19 recovery rate improved to 96.27 per cent, the data updated at 8 am showed

A net decline of 30,776 cases has been recorded in the Covid-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours.

As many as 18,11,446 tests were conducted on Saturday taking the total cumulative tests conducted so far for detection of Covid-19 in the country to 39,10,19,083.

The daily positivity rate was recorded at 3.22 per cent. It has been less than 5 per cent for 13 consecutive days, the ministry said, adding the weekly positivity rate has declined to 3.43 per cent.

Recoveries continue to outnumber daily new cases for the 38th consecutive day. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 2,87,66,009, while the case fatality rate stands at 1.29 per cent, the data stated.

Cumulatively, 27,66,93,572 Covid-19 vaccine doses have been administered so far.

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.

The 1,576 new fatalities include 682 from Maharashtra, 180 from Tamil Nadu, 161 from Karnataka and 115 from Kerala.

A total of 3,86,713 deaths have been reported so far in the country including 1,17,356 from Maharashtra, 33,763 from Karnataka, 31,015 from Tamil Nadu, 24,907 from Delhi, 22,132 from Uttar Pradesh, 17,295 from Bengal, 15,802 from Punjab and 13,377 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.