NEW DELHI: According to data by the Union health ministry, India on Wednesday reported 2,08,921 COVID-19 infections, pushing the overall tally of cases to 2,71,57,795, however, the death toll also climbed to 3,11,388 with 4,157 fatalities reported in a 24-hour period.

The 4,157 new fatalities include 1,137 from Maharashtra, 588 from Karnataka, 468 from Tamil Nadu, 177 from Kerala, 174 from Punjab, 157 each from Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal, 156 from Delhi, 128 from Haryana, 106 from Andhra Pradesh, 105 from Rajasthan and 104 from Bihar, according to the ministry data.

A total of 3,11,388 deaths have been reported so far in the country including 90,349 from Maharashtra, 26,399 from Karnataka, 23,565 from Delhi, 21,340 from Tamil Nadu, 19,519 from Uttar Pradesh, 14,674 from West Bengal, 13,642 from Punjab and 12,723 from Chhattisgarh.

As per the ministry data a total of 22,17,320 tests, the highest in a day, were conducted on Tuesday taking the cumulative number so far in the country to 33,48,11,496, while the daily positivity declined to 9.42 per cent.

The data also showed that 2,95,955 patients recovered from the virus in a span of 24 hours, pushing the total recoveries so far to 2,43,50,816. The national COVID-19 recovery rate has improved to 89.66 per cent.

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. The country crossed the grim milestone of 2 crore cases on May 4.