COVID-19: India reports 42,618 fresh cases in 24 hours, recovery rate stands at 97.45%

As the country continues to fight COVID-19, India has reported 42,618  fresh Coronavirus cases as of September 4 with 36,385 recoveries and 330 deaths in the last 24 hours. As per the Health Ministry, to date, India has reported a total of 3,29,45,907 COVID cases with 3,21,00,001 recoveries. Currently, India’s recovery rate stands at 97.45%.

To date, India has administered 67.09 crore COVID vaccine doses under Nationwide Vaccination Drive. On September 3, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said in a statement, "India’s cumulative vaccination coverage has crossed 67 Crore landmark today. With the administration of 74,84,333 vaccine doses in the last 24 hours, India’s COVID-19 vaccination coverage has surpassed the cumulative figure of 67.09 Cr (67,09,59,968) as per provisional reports till 7 am today. This has been achieved through 70,34,846 sessions".

On August 31, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare claimed that the country has administered 1.09 crore COVID vaccine doses in a day making it the second day in four weeks that the one crore mark was crossed in a single day. According to the data released by the Ministry, more than 18.3 crore doses have been administered in the month of August.

Earlier, in a major milestone achievement, India administered over 1 crore vaccine doses against COVID-19 on August 27, until 10 pm, the highest vaccination that happened in a single day. Also, 50 percent of the eligible population was administered the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine in India.

No lockdown in Kerala

Even though Kerala reported a drastic influx in COVID cases in the state, CM Pinarayi Vijayan on Friday completely ruled out the possibility of a lockdown. Earlier on August 31, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had announced that only RTPCR tests will be conducted in six districts of the state where COVID-19 vaccination has reached or is close to 80%. The districts include Waynad, Pathanamthitta, Ernakulam, Thiruvananthapuram, Idukki, and Kasaragod.

The decision was made at a COVID review meeting chaired by the chief minister where it was decided to increase the number of RTPCR tests in all districts. In light of the deteriorating COVID-19 situation, the Kerala government decided to conduct only RTPCR tests in the six districts.    

(Image credit: UNSPLASH)