New Delhi (TIP): India saw a single-day rise of 38,667 new coronavirus infections, taking the total tally of cases to 3,21,56,493, while the death toll rose to 4,30,732 with 478 fresh fatalities, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Saturday, August 14.

The ministry said the country had now reported less than 50,000 daily new cases for 48 consecutive days.

The active cases have increased to 3,87,673 (1.21 per cent of the total infections), while the recovery rate was recorded at 97.45 per cent, the data updated at 8 am showed.

An increase of 2,446 cases has been recorded in the active Covid caseload in a span of 24 hours, it showed.

Also, 22,29,798 Covid tests were conducted on Friday, taking the cumulative number of tests conducted so far for the detection of coronavirus in the country to 49,17,00,577, while the daily positivity rate was recorded at 1.73 per cent. It has been less than 3 per cent for the last 19 days.

The weekly positivity rate was recorded at 2.05 per cent, according to the health ministry.

The number of people who have recuperated from the disease rose to 3,13,38,088, while the case fatality rate stands at 1.34 per cent, the data stated.

Cumulatively, 53.61 crore Covid vaccine doses have been administered till Saturday morning.

The 478 fatalities reported on Saturday include 158 from Maharashtra and 114 from Kerala.

Overall, a total of 4,30,732 deaths have been reported so far in the country, including 1,34,730 from Maharashtra, 36,933 from Karnataka, 34,462 from Tamil Nadu, 25,068 from Delhi, 22,782 from Uttar Pradesh, 18,394 from Kerala and 18,276 from West Bengal.

Demand for hospital beds, ICU

goes up in Kerala

As the coronavirus graph continues to shoot up in Kerala for almost two months now, the pressure is visible on the overworked health machinery and demand for beds and ventilators too are on the rise. Hospitalisation has gone up considerably, but there is no shortage of oxygen visible in private and government hospitals.

According to health ministry statistics, ICU occupancy of Covid-19 patients (both private and government) has gone up from 2101 to 2175 on Friday but those on ventilators dropped from 800 to 780. Around 70 per cent of those infected remain in home quarantine and those critical with co-morbid conditions have been approaching hospitals. But increased home isolation invited more trouble– many experts said large families are turning transmission hubs in the state.