India registered 21,257 fresh COVID-19 infections in the last 24 hours, ending 8 am on Friday, taking the total caseload to 3.39 crore. 

A total of 12,288 new cases on Thursday were recorded in Kerala. Out of 271 deaths reported on Thursday, 141 were from Kerala. The death toll due to COVID in the country increased to 4,50,127.

Active cases have come down to 2.40 lakh and are the lowest in 205 days. Of the total number of active cases,1.19 lakh are in Kerala. Active cases currently account for 0.71% of the total infections. There has been a reduction of 3,977 cases in the active caseload in 24 hours. The current recovery rate now stands at 97.96%, which is the highest since March last year.

The daily increase in COVID-19 cases has continued to be less than 30,000 for 14 days in a row. The daily positivity rate stood at 1.53%. It has been below 3% for the last 39 days. The weekly positivity rate stood at 1.64% and has been below 3% for the last 105 days.

About 71% of the adults in the country have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine thus far, while 27% have received both doses. The cumulative number of doses administered in the country has crossed 93 crore.

NITI Aayog member (Health) Dr V K Paul said during a press conference that there was no issue with vaccine availability in the country, and urged people to get fully vaccinated.

The government said that preparations have been made to handle an increase of up to 5 lakh cases a day, but clarified at the same time that it does not mean that such huge case numbers will be seen in the future.

Source: The Indian Express