India recorded a little over 31,000 fresh cases of Covid-19 on Saturday, a drop of more than 3,000 from the previous day’s tally as Kerala recorded a dip in new infections because of lower testing in the midst of the Onam festival.
India reported 31,027 fresh cases as opposed to 34,307 on Friday, as per TOI’sCovid database. New infections have been on the decline through August after a brief surge in the last week of July.
India recorded an average of 33,821 daily cases in the last seven days (seven-day rolling average) till Friday, the lowest in more than five months since March19, when the average was 31,647. On August 1, the number stood at 40,832.
However, Saturday’s sharp fall in numbers was mainly on account of Kerala reporting a drop in cases. The state recorded 17,106 new cases, the first under-20,000 tally in five days. However, as testing dropped on the eve of Onam, Kerala’s positivity rate shot up to 17.73%, pointing to the possibility of cases surging again after the festivities are over.
In Maharashtra, daily cases remained below 5,000 for the second day as the state reported 4,575 fresh infections. India recorded 402 deaths from the virus on Saturday, up marginally from Friday’s toll of 374. Delhi reported just 19 fresh cases, the lowest daily count since April 15 last year.
