New Delhi:

The daily new cases of COVID-19 in India were recorded above 17,000 after a little over a month taking the totaltally of cases to 1,11,56,923,while the recoveries surged to 1,08,26,075,according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Thursday

A total of 17,407 infections were reported in a day. The death toll increased to 1,57,435 with 89 daily new fatalities, the data updated at 8 am showed.

On January 29,18,855 new infections were recorded in a span of 24 hours

The COVID-19 active caseload has increased to1,73,413 which which comprises 1.55 per cent of the total infections,the data stated.

The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 1,08,26,075  which translates to a national COVID-19 recovery rate of 97.03 per cent, while the case fatality rate stands at 1.41 per cent.

The increase in the numbers continued to be driven by Maharashtra, which recorded the highest daily cases in 137 days with 9,855 patients testing positive for the virus.

The last time Maharashtra exceeded this number was on October 17 when the state had recorded 10,259 cases. Punjab, too, recorded a spurt in cases with 778 patients testing positive — the highest since December 6.

At 2,765, Kerala recorded the highest number of cases after Maharashtra.

However, the pandemic seems to have slowed down in Kerala. Last Wednesday, Kerala had recorded 4,106 cases. Active cases in the state then stood at 53,502, which came down to 46,637.

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,21,91,78,908 samples have been tested up to March 3 with 7,75,631 samples being tested on Wednesday.