India on Friday morning recorded 45,352 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, pushing the infection tally in the country to 3,29,03,289 since the pandemic broke out in January last year. The new cases are 3.6% fewer than Thursday’s count of 47,092 infections.

The toll rose to 4,39,895 after 366 deaths were reported in a span of 24 hours. The active caseload increased for the third consecutive day to 3,99,778, and comprises 1.22% of the total number of infections in the country.

As many as 3,20,63,616 people have recovered from the disease so far.

Kerala reported 32,097 cases after 1,74,307 samples were tested in the last 24 hours. The state alone accounted for 70.7% of the daily fresh cases in India.

The number of patients on ventilator support in Kerala rose from 1,022 to 1,027 till Wednesday.

Credit: Ministry of Health and Family Welfare

The Centre has warned that the rest of India could also see a rise in infections, like Kerala, during the festival season that begins in September and ends in early November.

On Thursday, Indian Council of Medical Research Director General Balram Bhargava said that mass gatherings should be discouraged in view of high positivity rate in several districts. As many as 39 districts have a weekly Covid-19 positivity rate of over 10% positivity rate in the week ending August 31, according to the Hindustan Times.

Meanwhile, the cumulative vaccine doses administered to beneficiaries in the country crossed 67 crore, the health ministry said in a statement. Over 74 lakh doses were administered in the last 24 hours, it added.

India has now inoculated more than half of its adult population with at least one dose of the vaccine, while 16% have received both the doses, the government said at a press briefing on Thursday, according to PTI.

Other updates

  • Maharashtra reported 4,342 in the past 24 hours, taking its total count to 6,473,674. Amid a slight dip in infections, Minister of State for School Education, Bachchu Kadu, said that the state government will take a decision on reopening schools in the next two days, the Hindustan Times reported.
  • In Nilgiris district, authorities have asked customers who want to buy liquor from Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation Limited, or TASMAC retail liquor shops, to get fully vaccinated against the coronavirus, PTI reported.
  • The Gujarat High Court said that depression can be classified as a serious illness during the coronavirus pandemic, PTI reported. A government college had cancelled the registration and admission of an engineering student for not appearing for exams due to depression and suicidal thoughts.

Global updates

  • Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said that the country has secured 40 lakh doses of the Pfizer vaccine, in what he said was a “swap deal” with Britain, Reuters reported.
  • The Philippines’ Food and Drug Administration approved the emergency use of Moderna vaccine for children aged 12 to 17, the agency’s chief said, CNN reported.
  • Covid-19 has infected more than 21.86 crore people and led to over 45.46 lakh deaths since the beginning of the pandemic in December 2019, according to Johns Hopkins University.