India registered 12,729 new Covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours, 1.2 per cent lower than the tally reported on Thursday.

With fresh cases, the country’s overall tally has mounted to 3,43,33,754, according to the data released by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare early Friday.

The data also revealed that 221 people succumbed to the viral infection in the last 24 hours, pushing the country’s toll to 4,59,873. The maximum casualties were reported in Kerala (136), followed by Maharashtra with 32 daily deaths.

Kerala, with 7,545 cases, continues to be among the top five states that registered the maximum number of Covid-19 cases. This was followed by Maharashtra with 1,141 cases, Tamil Nadu with 945 cases, West Bengal with 918 cases and Mizoram with 508 cases.

As many as 86.85 per cent of the new cases were reported from these five states, with Kerala alone responsible for 59.27 per cent of the new cases.

Meanwhile, a total of 12,165 patients recovered from the infection in the last 24 hours, bringing the total recoveries to 3,37,24,959 across the country. With this, the recovery rate in the country now stands at 98.23 per cent.

Also, India’s active caseload increased by 343 to 1,48,922 in the last 24 hours.

India has, so far, administered 1,07,70,46,116 Covid-19 vaccine doses, with 5,65,276 doses being given in the last 24 hours. A total of 6,70,847 samples were tested in the last 24 hours.