India reports 16,678 new Covid cases, 26 deaths in last 24 hours

With 16,678 new coronavirus infections being reported in a day, India's total tally of COVID-19 cases rose to 4,36,39,329, while the active cases increased to 1,30,713 according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Monday.

The death toll climbed to 5,25,454 with 26 new fatalities, the data updated at 8 am stated.

The active cases comprise 0.30 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 98.50 per cent, the ministry said.

An increase of 2,023 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours.

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.