The daily COVID-19 case numbers in Kerala dropped slightly below 30,000 on Friday, taking India’s tally to below 45,000 for the first time in three days. 

The country registered 42,654 new COVID cases on Friday, with data still awaited from Jharkhand till late during the day. The case numbers were 45,641 on Thursday and 45,979 on Wednesday, as per TOI COVID database.

The country registered 325 fatalities from COVID-19 on Friday, which represents the lowest daily death toll in 158 days since March 29, when 268 casualties were reported. Deaths due to COVID-19 have shown a significant drop this week, largely as Maharashtra and Odisha recorded fewer deaths. Maharashtra reported 92 deaths on Friday while Odisha reported 7. Kerala recorded the highest death toll at 131, while Karnataka and Tamil Nadu reported 19 fatalities each.

Kerala recorded 29,322 new COVID cases, a marginal decline from 32,097 new infections reported on Thursday and 32,803 on Wednesday. The state’s test positivity rate declined slightly to 17.9%, compared to 18.4% reported on Thursday. However, the test positivity rate is still high, suggesting that the state may continue to record a high number of cases in the coming days. Active cases in the country surpassed the 4 lakh mark, as over 6,300 were added to the count on Friday.

Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu recorded a modest rise in infections for the second consecutive day while the numbers showed a marginal decline in Karnataka after a surge seen on Thursday. Andhra Pradesh logged 1,520 new infections, rising from 1,378 on the previous day, while Tamil Nadu logged 1,568 cases, up from 1,562. 

Source: ET Healthworld