India added 3,615 new COVID-19 infections, taking the total tally to 4,45,79,088, while the active cases declined to 40,979, the Union Health Ministry said in its data updated on Wednesday.
The death toll climbed to 5,28,584 with 22 deaths, including eight deaths reconciled by Kerala. The active cases comprise 0.09 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate increased to 98.72 per cent, the ministry said.
A decline of 1,378 cases has been recorded in the active coronavirus 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.