India recorded 41,649 new cases of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) in the last 24 hours, which pushed the nationwide tally to 31,613,993, and its death toll climbed to 4,23,810 with 593 daily fatalities, according to the Union ministry of health and family welfare on Friday.

Active cases of Covid-19 rose to 4,08,920 in the said time period, according to data released by the health ministry at 8am. The national Covid-19 recovery rate improved to 1.29 per cent, it stated. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 3,07,81,263, while the case fatality rate stands at 1.34 per cent, it said.

The Centre has sent a six-member expert team to Kerala, which has been witnessing a surge in Covid-19 cases, for observation. Kerala on Friday reported 20,772 new Covid-9 cases, 14,651 recoveries and 116 deaths over a span of 24 hours.

“There are many concerns, rise in positivity rate is one. Cases are declining everywhere and transmission is continuing in Kerala. Let us discuss this with the state. It is a comprehensive situation, let us see how things unfold,” said Dr SK Singh, director of the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) who is a part of the central team, according to news agency PTI.

Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan has said the state has the capacity to administer the Covid-19 vaccine to one crore people every month and will urge the Centre to provide more vaccines.

The health ministry informed that 45,60,33,754 Covid-19 vaccine doses have been administered so far.

The new phase of universalisation of Covid-19 vaccination had commenced on June 21. The vaccination drive has been ramped up through the availability of more vaccines. The government has been supporting the states and Union territories by providing them Covid-19 vaccines for free.

Source: Hindustan Times