New Delhi [India], October 7 (ANI): Amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, India is recording a daily average of 20,000 cases of which 56 per cent cases were reported from Kerala last week, said Union Health Ministry on Thursday.

Addressing a health briefing, Joint Secretary of Union Health Ministry Lav Agarwal said, "On an average, 20,000 COVID-19 cases have been recorded daily. Of these 56 per cent cases were reported from Kerala last week."

Also Read | UP Govt Sets Up One-Man Judicial Commission to Probe Lakhimpur Kheri Incident.

He also informed that the overall positivity rate of the country stood at 1.68 per cent last week.

"Overall positivity rate of the country was nearly at 1.68% last week as compared to that of 5.86 per cent earlier," he said.

Also Read | Reliance Retail to Launch 7-Eleven Convenience Stores in India.

Meanwhile, India recorded 22,431 new COVID-19 cases and 318 deaths in the last 24 hours, the Union Health Minister informed on Thursday.

Of these, 12,616 new cases and 134 deaths were reported in Kerala in the last 24 hours.

Currently, there are 2,44,198 active COVID-19 cases in the country.

The cumulative caseload in the country now stands at 3,38,94,312 while 4,49,856 people have succumbed to the infection so far. With 24,602 recoveries in the last 24 hours, the recovery tally of the country has gone up to 3,32,00,258. The recovery rate stands at 97.95 per cent. (ANI)

(The above story is verified and authored by ANI staff, ANI is South Asia's leading multimedia news agency with over 100 bureaus in India, South Asia and across the globe. ANI brings the latest news on Politics and Current Affairs in India & around the World, Sports, Health, Fitness, Entertainment, & News. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)