India recorded new 27,176 cases of the novel coronavirus, along with 284 deaths due to the infection in the past 24 hours. According to the data shared by the Union Health Ministry on Wednesday, the country saw a total of 38,012 discharges in the last 24 hours, taking the total recovery rate at around 97.58 per cent and total recoveries to 3,25,22,171.The total active cases of COVID-19 in India slightly dipped to 3,51,087, the ministry data showed. According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), 54,60,55,796 samples have been tested up to September 14 for COVID-19. Of these 16,10,829 samples were tested on Tuesday.The total death toll in the country is now at 4,43,497. In India, the first death due to COVID pandemic was reported in March 2020.Meanwhile, after reporting more than or close to 30,000 COVID-19 cases daily during the first week of September, Kerala has been logging comparatively lesser fresh infections since then with the state reporting 15,876 cases on Tuesday, which took the total caseload to 44,06,365.The number of active cases in the state dropped below two lakh- 1,98,865 to be exact- with 25,654 people recovering from COVID-19 since Monday and the total recoveries rose to 41,84,158, a state government release said.The state also reported 129 deaths in the last 24 hours, which took the total fatalities to 22,779, the release said.