India added 16,561 new coronavirus cases taking the total tally of Covid cases to 4,42,23,557, while the active cases dipped to 1,23,535, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Friday.

The death toll climbed to 5,26,928 with 49 fatalities which include 10 deaths reconciled by Kerala, the data updated at 8 am stated.

The active cases comprise 0.28 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 98.53 per cent, the ministry said.

A decrease of 1,541 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours.

The daily positivity rate was recorded at 5.44 per cent and the weekly positivity rate at 4.88 per cent, according to the ministry.

The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 4,35,73,094, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.19 per cent.

According to the ministry, 207.47 crore doses of Covid vaccine have been administered in the country so far under the nationwide vccination drive.

India's COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 2020, 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.

The country crossed the grim milestone of two crore on May 4 and three crore on June 23 last year. It crossed the four-crore mark on January 25 this year.

The 39 new fatalities include six each from Delhi and Karnataka, five from Maharashtra, four from West Bengal, three each from Punjab and Uttar Pradesh, two each from Gujarat, Sikkim and Uttarakhand, and one each from Assam, Chandigarh, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Manipur and Odisha.