Hyderabad, Jan 2 : The Covid-19 recovery rate in Telangana rose to 97.52 per cent on Saturday as 535 recoveries were reported during the last 24 hours. The new figure took the cumulative number of recoveries to 2,79,991, health officials said. The state's recovery rate is higher than the national average of 96.1 per cent. The number of active cases in the state dropped further to 5,571, including 3,418 who are in home or institutional isolation. Two persons succumbed to the virus in the last 24 hours, taking the state's death toll to 1,546. The fatality rate remained 0.53 per cent against the national average of 1.4 per cent. According to director of public health and family welfare, 44.96 per cent of the deaths occurred due to Covid-19, while 55.04 per cent had comorbidities. The state reported only 293 new cases as the authorities conducted fewer tests. The labs tested 26,590 samples against 40,000-45,000. While government-run laboratories conducted 22,998 tests, the remaining 3,952 samples were tested in private labs. There are 18 government-run laboratories, 56 private laboratories and 1076 Rapid Antigen test centres in the state. Samples tested per million population ratio rose further to 1,86,762. Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) reported 72 new cases during last 24 hours. Rangareddy district saw the second highest number of new cases at 34 followed by Medchal Malkajgiri (26), Karimnagar (22), Warangal Urban (14) and Sangareddy (12). Remaining districts recorded new cases in single digit. Over 90 per cent of beds in government-run and private hospitals treating Covid-19 in the state remained vacant. Out of 8,585 beds available in 61 government hospitals treating Covid, 7,807 beds were vacant. A total of 778 people were undergoing treatment in these hospitals. Similarly, in 219 private hospitals treating Covid, only 1,375 beds were occupied. Out of 7,790 beds, 6,415 were vacant. The data shows that 63.9 per cent of those tested positive so far were aged between 21-50 years. As many as 22.91 per cent were aged above 51 years. The positive cases include 13.18 per cent who were below 20 years. Of the total cases, 60.44 per cent were male and 39.37 per cent female. /IANS