हिंदी ब्लॉग 
New Delhi, Dec 24 (IANS) India on Thursday witnessed 24,712 fresh Covid-19 infections taking the total number of cases to 1,01,23,778, along with 312 deaths in the last 24 hours, taking the tally of fatalities to 1,46,756, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said.
In the last 24 hours, 29,791 people have recovered.
Currently, there are 2,83,849 active cases.
The recovery rate stands at 95.75 per cent while the fatality rate is 1.45 as per cent.
Till now, 96,93,173 have recovered.
A total of 16,53,08,366 samples have been tested for Covid-19 till now. Of these, 10,39,645 samples were tested on Wednesday, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) said.
Maharashtra continues to be the worst-hit state till date. Over 70 per cent of the daily new cases are being reported by 10 states and union territory -- Kerala, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh.
Over 75 per cent of the deaths are being reported from Maharashtra, West Bengal, Delhi, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Haryana.
A new strain of the Covid-19 virus has appeared in the UK. The mutant is said to be 70 per cent more aggressive, according to reports. Flights and other forms of transport to and from the UK are being shut down.
--IANS
aks/pgh
