New Delhi, Mar 8 (IANS): India achieved a major milestone on Tuesday as the daily new Covid-19 cases declined to 3,993 in the last 24 hours.

This is the lowest new Covid-19 cases recorded in India after a gap of 662 days, since 3,970 cases were reported on May 16, 2020.

In another achievement, India's active caseload has dropped below 50,000 after 664 days. At present, the country's active cases stand at 49,948, which is at its lowest since 49,219 cases were recorded on May 14, 2021.

The testing capacity in the country continues to be expanded.

India conducted 8.5 lakh average tests in the last week and recorded a weekly positivity rate of 0.68 per cent.

The Indian government has been leading the fight against the Covid-19 infection in collaboration with the states and Union Territories (UTs) through a 'Whole of Government' approach.

Vaccination forms an integral component of the five-point strategy of the Indian government's containment and management of the pandemic which includes test, track, treat and Covid-appropriate behaviour, said the Union Health Ministry in a statement.

The Indian government continues to augment its efforts towards containment and management of Covid-19 with the support of states and UTs, it added.

Meanwhile, India's Covid-19 vaccination coverage has exceeded 179.13 crore, with the administration of more than 21.34 lakh vaccine doses in the last 24 hours.