NEW DELHI, Dec 16: On the third consecutive day on Wednesday India reported coronavirus cases at below 30,000, showing an easing of the intensity of the pandemic in the country. The day's figure was 26,382. The daily record of deaths from the epidemic in the last four days also stood below 400. The casualty figure for the last 24 hours was 387.

The total number of deaths reported since the beginning of the epidemic in February in India has reached 1,44,096. There are 3.32 lakh active cases as on Wednesday even as 94.56 lakh patients have recovered so far. As per official records, the total number of covid cases reported in the country so far is 99,32,548.

Statewise, the worst affected were Maharashtra and Delhi, which are also showing signs of recovery. In Delhi there were 6,10,000 cases of whom 5,86,000 patients have so far recovered from the infection. There were 10,115 deaths. The Government claims the daily positivity rate has stayed below 5 per cent since December 3. Delhi conducted 85,000 tests on Tuesday. In the previous 24 hours 1,376 fresh cases were reported, the lowest in over three months. The number of deaths also came down to 41.

Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu has eased the corona restrictions as there is an improvement in the situation. However, the Government has ordered testing at all colleges and universities after the IIT-Madras hostel cluster infection case.

In a statement on Wednesday, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami said that standard procedures will be followed as social, political, sports, educational, cultural and entertainment gatherings will be allowed with a maximum capacity of 50 per cent in open spaces from December 19.

The global covid infection stands at 73,760,663 cases. While 51,779,444 have recovered, 1,640,070 have died so far. The US is the worst-hit country, with 17,118,847 cases and 310,648 deaths. India is the second worst affected country.