India on Saturday morning recorded 42,618 new Covid-19 cases in the past 24 hours, pushing the infection tally in the country to 3,29,45,907 since the pandemic broke out in January last year.

The new cases are 6.02% lower than Friday’s count of 45,352 infections.

The toll rose to 4,40,225 after 330 deaths were reported in a span of 24 hours. The active caseload increased for the fourth consecutive day, and is presently at 4,05,681 cases. The number of active cases increased by 5,903 in the past day.

As many as 3,21,00,001 people have recovered from the disease so far. The nationwide recovery rate currently stands at 97.43%.

The country recorded a test positivity rate of 2.50% in the past 24 hours, while the weekly positivity rate was 2.63% in the past week. The test positivity rate is the number of samples that test positive from the daily lot. The weekly positivity rate has been less than 3% for the last 71 days, according to the Union health ministry.

A total of 58,85,687 people received Covid-19 vaccines in the past day, as per official figures. A total of 67,72,11,205 have been inoculated against the disease in the country so far.

Other updates:

  • The Kerala government on Friday said that it will take strict action against those who violate its Covid-19 quarantine rules. It said that the government will invoke provisions of the Disaster Management Act Kerala State Epidemic Act and other relevant legal provisions in force against people who violate quarantine norms.
  • Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar said that the government should not be put in a position to shut down everything if a third wave hits, the Hindustan Times reported. He urged people in the state to follow all Covid-19 protocols to prevent the virus from spreading.
  • The Drugs Controller General of India granted permission to vaccine maker Biological E to start mid-stage studies of its Covid-19 vaccine among children and adolescents. The firm will study the feasibility of its Corbevax shot among the approved demographic.
  • The country R-value rose sharply to nearly 1.2 in the last fortnight, driven mainly by the rise in cases in Kerala and Maharashtra, PTI quoted researchers at the Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Chennai, as saying. The R-value reflects the speed at which an infection is spreading in a given area.

Global updates

  • New Zealand on Saturday reported its first death due to the Delta variant of Covid-19 in Auckland city, Reuters reported. The city also recorded 20 new coronavirus cases in the past day.
  • The United Kingdom’s advisory body on Covid-19 vaccines on Friday said that it would not recommend administering shots to all children from 12 to 15 years of age contending that the benefits were too small, AFP reported. It had previously recommended giving vaccines to children in that age group who have underlying health conditions that would make them more susceptible to the virus.
  • Covid-19 has infected more than 21.97 crore people and led to over 45.53 lakh deaths since the beginning of the pandemic in December 2019, according to John Hopkins University.