New Delhi, Sep 17: With 34,403 more people testing positive for COVID-19, India's overall infection tally has increased to 3,33,81,728, while the count of active cases has dipped to 3,39,056, according to Union health ministry data updated on Friday.

The death toll due to the disease has climbed to 4,44,248 with 320 more fatalities being recorded, it said

The number of active cases now comprises 1.03 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has been recorded at 97.64 per cent, according to the data updated by the ministry at 8 am. Global COVID-19 Caseload Tops 226.9 Million, Deaths Surge to More Than 5.80 Million: Johns Hopkins University.

It said that active COVID-19 cases in the country decreased by 3,867 cases in a span of 24 hours.

Also, 15,27,420 tests were conducted on Thursday, taking the total cumulative tests conducted so far for detection of COVID-19 in the country to 54,92,29,149, the data showed.

The weekly positivity rate has been recorded at 1.97 per cent. It has been below three per cent for the last 84 days, the ministry said.

The number of people who have recuperated from the disease is 3,25,60,474, while the case fatality rate has been recorded at 1.33 per cent, it said.

The cumulative number of doses administered in the country so far under the vaccination drive has exceeded 77.24 crore, according to the ministry.

India's COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7 last year, 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 last year.

India recorded two crore cases on May 4 and three crore cases on June 23.

The 320 new fatalities include 178 from Kerala, 45 from Maharashtra and 25 from Tamil Nadu, the ministry said.

It said that 4,44,248 deaths have been reported so far in the country, including 1,38,322 from Maharashtra, 37,555 from Karnataka, 35,271 from Tamil Nadu, 25,084 from Delhi, 23,165 from Kerala, 22,886 from Uttar Pradesh, and 18,620 from West Bengal.

The health ministry said that more than 70 per cent of the deaths occurred due to co-morbidities.

"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.