India on Thursday logged 36,401 fresh coronavirus cases, which is 3.4 per cent higher than yesterday's numbers, taking the total tally of cases to 3,23,22,258. The death count has climbed to 4,33,049 with 530 more fatalities.
The active cases have fallen to 3,64,129 - the lowest in 149 days - and are 1.13 per cent of total cases. 39,157 people were discharged after treatment in the past 24 hours, taking cumulative recoveries to around 3.15 crore. The recovery rate is 97.52 per cent - the highest since March last year.
The daily positivity rate was recorded at 1.94%. It has been less than 3% for the last 24 days.
The weekly positivity rate was recorded at 1.95%. It has been below 3% for the last 55 days, according to the ministry.
The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 3,15,25,080, while the case fatality rate stands at 1.34%, the data stated.
With 21,427 fresh cases, Kerala continues to be the state with most number of daily Covid cases. It reported 179 deaths.
After breaching the value of one in the first week of August, the R number, which reflects how rapidly the coronavirus pandemic is spreading, has been steadily ebbing in the country including Kerala and some northeastern states, according to researchers. The R-value between August 14-16, calculated by the researchers, now stands at 0.89.
Meanwhile, an ICMR study conducted in Chennai has found that the Delta variant has the potential to infect both vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals, but it reduces mortality among the former group
India had administered at least 565 million Covid vaccine doses by Wednesday, August 18. Meanwhile, vaccines for children may be available by September and the trials for inoculating those between 2 and 18 years are underway, said Priya Abraham, director of the National Institute of Virology.
In terms of daily vaccination, the CoWin data says that 56,36,336 people were vaccinated against the novel coronavirus in the last 24 hours. This is the second consecutive day when the daily Covid jabs have crossed the 50 lakh mark.