COVID-19: India reports 45,083 cases, 460 deaths in 24 hours; 70% infections from Kerala

India registered 45,083 new cases and 460 deaths in the last 24 hours along with 35,840 recoveries within the same period. Currently, the active cases stand at 3,68,558 and the national recovery rate is at 97.53%. India vaccinated 65,39,745 people on Saturday till 7 p.m., the time at which Union Health Ministry releases their provisional report.

The vaccination numbers dropped from that of Friday as it crossed the 1 crore milestone. Currently, India’s daily positivity rate stands at 2.19% and has remained lesser than 3% for the last 28 days. The active cases constitute a total of 1.10%, which is the lowest percentage since the second wave that emerged back in April this year.

The Union Health Ministry has issued advanced guidelines for containment zones to control the spread of coronavirus. The new COVID-19 guidelines say that special intensified stringent lockdowns will be enforced in the urban wards/panchayats with critical spread where WIPR (weekly infection population ratio) is above 7. The ministry has also warned states/UT to remain vigilant as the festive season approaches. The ministry has asked the states to take steps to avoid public gatherings and stop the spread of the virus.

The current situation in Kerala 

Kerala registered more than 30,000 fresh COVID-19 cases for the fourth consecutive day on Saturday. The state’s total caseload has increased to 39,77,572, although the positivity rate has dipped from 19.22% to 18.67%. The Kerala government imposed a state-wise lockdown on Sunday to curb the increase in the cases. Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan attended a review meeting with state officials and decided to announce a night curfew from 10 PM to 6 AM starting from Monday. The CM also confirmed while talking to the media that the lockdown will continue until the COVID-19 cases start declining. The CM said, "In areas where the weekly infection population ratio is above seven percent, the government has decided to implement a lockdown. From next week, there will be a night curfew from 10 pm to 6 am. Night curfew has already been issued for tomorrow." The cases in Kerala have been worrying the entire country as a threat of a third wave still looms across the nation. 

(With PTI inputs)