DW BUREAU / chandigarh Punjab on Sunday reported 10 more deaths, pushing the toll to 4,915, while 802 new cases took the infection count to 1,56,226. There are 7,896 active COVID-19 cases in the state as of now, according to a medical bulletin. Mohali reported 157 new cases, followed by 114 in Ludhiana and 86 in Amritsar, among the fresh cases witnessed in the state. A total of 623 coronavirus patients were discharged after recovering from the infection, taking the number of thosse recovered to 1,43,415, as per the bulletin. Twelve critical patients are on ventilator support while 166 are on oxygen support, it said. A total of 33,52,671 samples have been collected for testing so far in the state, the bulletin said. India's COVID-19 caseload rose to 96.44 lakh, while the total number of people who have recuperated from the disease crossed 91 lakh pushing the national recovery rate to 94.37 per cent, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Sunday. The COVID-19 active caseload plunged to almost 4 lakh after 138 days. The total coronavirus cases mounted to 96,44,222 with 36,011 new infections being reported in a day, while the death toll crossed to 1.40 lakh with 482 new fatalities, the data updated at 8 am showed. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 91,00,792 pushing the national recovery rate to 94.37 per cent, while the COVID-19 case fatality rate stands at 1.45 per cent.There are 4,03,248 active coronavirus infections in the country which comprises 4.18 per cent of the total caseload, the data stated.  India's COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 30 lakh on August 23 and 40 lakh on September 5.  It went past  50 lakh on September 16,  60 lakh on September 28, 70 lakh on  October 11, crossed 80 lakh on October 29, and surpassed 90 lakh on November 20. According to the ICMR,  14,69,86,575 samples have been tested up to December 5 with 11,01,063 samples being tested on Saturday. The 482 new fatalities include 95 from Maharashtra, 77 from Delhi, 49 from West Bengal, 32 from Kerala, 25 from Haryana, 24 from Punjab, 23 from Uttar Pradesh, 21 from Chhattisgarh and 20 from Rajasthan. A total of 1,40,182 deaths have been reported so far in the country including 47,694 from Maharashtra followed by 11,846 from Karnataka, 11,777 from Tamil Nadu, 9,574 from Delhi, 8,677 from West Bengal, 7,900 from Uttar Pradesh, 7,024 from Andhra Pradesh, 4,906 from Punjab, 4,064 from Gujarat and 3,326 from Madhya Pradesh.The health ministry stressed that more than 70 per cent of the deaths occurred due to comorbidities. "Our figures are being reconciled with the Indian Council of  Medical Research," the ministry said on its website. (editor@dailyworld.in)