The single-day rise in new coronavirus infections inched closer to 3 lakh, pushing India''s total tally of COVID-19 cases to 1,56,16,130, while the death toll increased to 1,82,553 with a record 2,023 daily fatalities, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Wednesday.
A total of 2,95,041 fresh infections were registered in a span of 24 hours, while the active cases crossed the 21-lakh mark, the data updated at 8 am showed.
Registering a steady increase for the 42nd in a row, the active cases have increased to 21,57,538, comprising 13.82 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has dropped to 85.01 per cent.