COVID-19 update: India reports 44,658 fresh cases and 496 deaths in 24 hours

India witnessed a slight dip as it reported 44,658 new COVID-19 cases and 496 deaths in the last 24 hours, as per the Health Ministry data. There were 32,988 recoveries in a single day taking the overall count to 3,18,21,428. The total number of COVID-19 cases in the country now stands at 3,26,03,188 with the death toll reaching 4,36,861.

The total number of active cases has reached 3,44,899. The total number of samples tested up to August 26 is 51,49,54,309, reported ANI. India's cumulative COVID-19 vaccination coverage crossed the 61 crore landmark milestone. The total number of people vaccinated in the country now stands at  61,22,08,542 with 79,48,439 being vaccinated in the last 24 hours.

Kerala reported over 30,000 new COVID-19 cases for the second day in a row on Thursday. In the last 24 hours, the state recorded 30,007 cases, 18,997 recoveries, and 162 deaths. With this, the number of active cases has gone up to 1,81,209 while Test Positivity Rate (TPR) stands at 18.03%.

On the other hand, Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope on Thursday warned that the state will be hit by the third wave of the COVID-19 by the end of October or the first week of November as most festivities come to an end, and at least 60 lakh people will be infected by the disease.

Meanwhile, the health ministry has come out with a revised set of guidelines on domestic travel, advising states to exempt fully vaccinated travellers from the mandatory requirement of furnishing a negative RT-PCR test or RAT report on entry.