COVID-19 update: Kerala reports 291 deaths, active cases lowest since March 2020

India reported 16,326 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours taking the overall case tally to 3,41,59,562, according to the Union health ministry's data. Active cases have declined to 1,73,728, the lowest since March 2020.

Meanwhile, the country recorded 666 fatalities in the last 24 hours of which Kerala alone reported 291 deaths, taking the COVID-19 death toll in India to 4,53,708. The national recovery rate was recorded at 98.16%, the highest since March 2020, the health ministry said.

As many as 68.48 Lakh vaccines were administered in the past 24 hours, taking the vaccine count to 101.30 crore doses. The daily COVID-19 cases count has been below 30,000 for 29 straight days and less than 50,000 for 118 consecutive days now.

A comparison of the data from September and October shows the declining trajectory of daily COVID-19 cases. Maharashtra, Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh are the top five states which are contributing 56% of total cases.

As many as 13,64,681 tests were conducted on Friday, taking the total cumulative tests conducted so far for detection of COVID-19 in the country to 59,84,31,162. On Friday, one of the worst-hit states, Maharashtra reopened cinema halls, theatres and auditoriums with 50% seating capacity as COVID-19 cases are going down in the state.