Daily updates 17 July 2021

India today logged 38,079 new cases, which is marginally lower than yesterday's figures. 560 deaths were recorded in the last 24 hours.

Here are the top 10 updates on coronavirus in India:

1. The daily positivity rate - number of positive cases identified per hundred - stands at 1.91 per cent, less than 3 per cent for 26 consecutive days.
2. The active cases have declined to 4,24,025 and comprise 1.36 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate stands at 97.31 per cent, the data shows. It said that active COVID-19 cases have decreased by 6,397 in a span of 24 hours.
3. The total vaccine doses administered has reached 39.96 crore under the nationwide vaccination drive.
4. Maharashtra, which leads the states with the maximum number of cases in the country, added 7,761 cases and 167 deaths over a 24-hour period.
5. Kerala with 13,750 cases leads the states in most number of Covid cases in a day. It is followed by Maharashtra (7,761), Tamil Nadu (2,312) and Karnataka (1,806).
6. The Tamil Nadu government has extended the coronavirus lockdown in the state till July 31 while easing more curbs. The graded relaxations come amid a dip in the daily COVID-19 cases. Teachers have been allowed in schools for admission process and books distribution. Only 50 people will be allowed for weddings and 20 for funerals.
7. Speaking to the chief ministers of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Odisha, Kerala and Maharashtra - which have contributed 80 per cent of new cases and 84 per cent of deaths in the past week - PM Modi stressed the 'test, track, treat and teeka (vaccinate)' system to contain the virus.
8. The next 100-125 days are critical in the fight against COVID-19, the government said on Friday. The fall in Covid cases after the peak of the second deadly wave two months ago has slowed down, and this should be taken as a warning sign, NITI Aayog member on health Dr VK Paul told reporters.
9. The third wave of Covid is likely to hit the country at the end of August and chances are that it will not be as intense as the second wave, Dr Samiran Panda, Head of Epidemiology and Infectious Diseases at the Indian Council of Medical Research, has told NDTV.
10. Covid vaccines currently in use in India reduce chance of hospitalisation or mortality in case of breakthrough infections (or infections that occur after at least one dose of the vaccine), according to the results of an ICMR-funded study of 677 samples recorded during the second wave.