New Delhi: The health ministry has continued to measure the Covid-19 pandemic in India by the number of recoveries though Monday’s daily death count crossed 1,000 and the positivity rate stood at 13 per cent. This even as international experts flag the “worrisome trajectory” that India is on.
On Saturday, 7,19,364 tests were done but the number dipped significantly on Sunday even as preparations are afoot to do 10 lakh tests a day.
Active cases
Over the weekend, India added close to 1,90,000 cases with over 60,000 cases being reported daily. The total active cases in the country now stand at 6,34,945, which is 28.66 per cent of the total reported cases.
Number of deaths
India’s daily death toll has now crossed yet another psychological barrier of 1,000 deaths reported in a day. The 1,007 deaths take the total deaths to 44,386. This is the third highest in the world.
Mortality rate
With the case fatality rate currently standing at 2 per cent, West Bengal, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Maharashtra and Gujarat have a higher death rate than the national average. Worryingly, these are also some of the states with the highest disease burden.
Daily tests
The tests conducted in the last 24 hours dipped significantly because of reduced staff during weekends. The testing over the rest of the week is expected to compensate for it.
Positivity rate
The weekend drop in testing to 4,77,023 from 7,19,364 a day earlier sent the positivity rate shooting up again to 13 per cent. The wide daily swings in testing numbers could be a cause for concern though India has set its sights on testing a million a day.
Recovered cases
With the highest ever single day recoveries of 54,859 in the last 24 hours, the recovery rate now stands at 70 per cent. The total recoveries have now crossed 15 lakh cases. The Government of India, in its daily bulletins, measures the pandemic only by recoveries.
Total cases
Total Covid cases in India now stand at 22,15,074, the third highest in the world. However, India is the only country where the graph of both fresh cases and deaths are still on an upward trajectory.
High burden states
Maharashtra, the state with the highest Covid burden in the country, shows no signs of bending the curve yet. In the last 24 hours, 12,248 fresh cases and 390 deaths were reported. The doubling time though is higher than the national average.
Karnataka, the state in which both the incumbent and former chief minister are recovering from Covid, reported 5,985 cases and 107 deaths in the last 24 hours. The case fatality rate is still lower than the national average.
Tamil Nadu, like Maharashtra, started reporting Covid cases early on, yet the numbers keep rising. In the last 24 hours, 5,994 cases and 119 deaths were reported. The case fatality rate, though, is lower than the national average.
Andhra Pradesh began robustly Covid testing much later than other states but has quickly caught up with 10,820 cases and 97 deaths being reported in the last 24 hours. The doubling time is less than the national average.
Delhi has started showing a rise in daily cases once again, which the state government has blamed on “outsiders”. It is also a fact that its flagging testing numbers are also up. The doubling time is over 91 days.
Tests and positive cases
Tamil Nadu is back at the top of the testing heap with 68,179 tests in the last 24 hours, pushing the positivity rate down to 8.7 per cent in the state. This on a day when the national positivity rate is 13 per cent. There is a dip in testing in Maharashtra but Delhi is now testing more, though 18,085 of these are antigen tests.