India’s COVID-19 tally rose to 1,11,92,088 with over 18,000 fresh cases being reported in a span of 24 hours in the country after 36 days, while active cases registered an increase for the fourth consecutive day on March 6 and were recorded at 1,80,304, according to the Union Health Ministry.

The death toll reached 1,57,656 with 108 more fatalities, while a total of 18,327 new cases were registered in a day, the Ministry’s data showed.

On January 29, 18,855 new infections were recorded in a span of 24 hours after which the daily rise in fresh cases remained below 18,000.

The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 1,08,54,128 which translates to a national COVID-19 recovery rate of 96.98%, while the case fatality rate stands at 1.41%.

The COVID-19 active caseload has increased to 1,80,304 which now comprises 1.61% of the total infections.

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.

According to the ICMR, 22,06,92,677 samples have been tested up to March 5 with 7,51,935 samples being tested on March 5.

The 108 new fatalities include 53 from Maharashtra, 16 from Kerala and 11 from Punjab.

A total of 1,57,656 deaths have been reported so far in the country, including 52,393 from Maharashtra followed by 12,513 from Tamil Nadu, 12,354 from Karnataka, 10,918 from Delhi, 10,275 from West Bengal, 8,729 from Uttar Pradesh and 7,172 from Andhra Pradesh.

The Health Ministry stressed that more than 70% 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.