New Delhi: Small dips in daily caseloads, deaths and positivity have come as moderate good news in the daily tale of rising Covid numbers. This, even as the total cases have gone past 22 lakh. The cases fatality rate has gone below 2. Nationally, testing has risen but there are still wide disparities between states and the daily breakup of antigen and RT-PCR tests is not available at the national level.
Active cases
The daily caseload came down marginally in the last 24 hours to 53,601, taking the total active cases in the country to 6,39,929. The graph though continues to show an upward trend, meaning the country may still be far away from the disease peak.
Number of deaths
The worm of daily deaths has been going up and down but the overall trajectory is upward. Having crossed a 1,000 yesterday, it has shown a small fall to 871 in the last 24 hours.
Case fatality rate
While the case fatality rate stands at 1.99 per cent nationally, in 17 states and all Union Territories, it is lower than 1. These include some big states like Kerala, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh and Odisha. Andhra is also among the top five high disease burden states.
Daily tests
Close to 7 lakh tests were done in the last 24 hours. This includes RT-PCR, CBNAAT, Truenat and antigen tests. The graph of daily tests too is rising but not as uninterruptedly as those of daily cases and deaths. The number is prone to drastic daily variations.
Positivity rate
The positivity rate has come down to 7.6 per cent. With testing going up significantly, the overall positivity rate has been showing a downward trend since around 19 July, though there are intermittent spikes on days when the numbers fall.
Recovered cases
With more patients recovering and being discharged from hospitals or home isolation (in case of mild and moderate cases), the total recoveries have jumped to 15,83,489. In the last 24 hours, 47,746 Covid patients were discharged. The recovery rate currently stands at 70 per cent.
Total cases
The total cases in the country have now crossed 22 lakh even though just 28.21 per cent of those are active cases. Active cases are an important metric because they form the actual base over which daily growth happens.
High burden states
In the last 24 hours, Karnataka reported 4,267 cases and 114 deaths, taking its total to 1,82,354. The case fatality rate currently stands at 1.82, which is lower than the national average, while the doubling time is about 18.5 days.
Maharashtra’s total cases have now crossed 5,24,513 with 9,181 cases being reported in the last 24 hours. At 3.44 per cent, the state has the second highest case fatality rate in the country.
Tamil Nadu reported 5,914 fresh cases and 114 deaths in the last 24 hours. Worryingly, though, the gap between the national case fatality rate and the state’s number seems to be narrowing. The total deaths have now crossed 5,000.
Andhra Pradesh has started testing much more now, yet 7,665 cases in the last 24 hours have pushed its daily positivity past 16 per cent. But it is among the states that has managed to keep its fatality rate low despite rising numbers.
Delhi has seen a fall in testing, with its daily number staying below 1,000 once again. This while the positivity rate is at 5.7 per cent. The national capital recorded 20 deaths in the last 24 hours, taking the total toll to 4,131.
Tests and positive cases
Delhi’s testing numbers showed a sharp fall once more. Of the 12,323 tests conducted in the last 24 hours, over 9,000 are antigen tests. Tamil Nadu has regained its top spot as the highest testing state.
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