Positivity rate declines to 8.19% : Government

NEW DELHI, Oct 8
India’s cumulative positivity rate for covid-19 is declining and is currently 8.19%, the Government said on Thursday.
While seven States have reported positivity rate less than 5%, 22 States have positivity rate less than the National average, the Union Health Ministry said in a statement.
The National average of tests per day per million population stands at 865, the Ministry said.
The total tally of covid-19 cases on Thursday touched 68,35,100 and the toll reached 106043. At least 78,524 new confirmed cases were recorded in last 24 hours. Over 79% of the new cases are from 10 States and UTs. Maharashtra continues to be the State reporting a very high number of new cases with more than 14,000 cases followed by Karnataka with nearly 11,000 cases,  according to the Government. At least 971 case fatalities were also reported in the past 24 hours.
Of these, nearly 82% are concentrated in ten States/UTs of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Andhra Pradesh, Punjab, Chhattisgarh, and Madhya Pradesh. More than 36% of new fatalities reported are from Maharashtra (355 deaths), the Government said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday launched a campaign on covid-19 Appropriate Behaviour via a series of Tweets. “India’s COVID-19 fight is people driven and gets great strength from our COVID warriors. Our collective efforts have helped saved many lives. We have to continue the momentum and protect our citizens from the virus. #Unite2FightCorona," Modi tweeted.
“Let us #Unite2FightCorona! Let us always remember: Wear a mask. Wash hands. Follow social distancing. Practice ‘Do Gaj Ki Doori.’ Together, we will succeed. Together, we will win against COVID-19," he said in another tweet.
The campaign has been launched with the aim to encourage people’s participation and together win the fight against covid-19. As part of the nation-wide campaign, Central Government Ministries and Departments and State Governments and Union Territories will reach out to citizens with region-specific communication, tailored to the needs especially of districts where there is a high case load of covid-19.
Cautionary measures that need to be adopted will be communicated using a variety of suitable media platforms, throughout the country.