New Delhi: With over a lakh cases being reported every two days and almost a 1,000 deaths a day, to look for the positives in India’s Covid story is not easy. But the transmission rate is now showing a significant dip that may have implications for the way the disease spreads in the coming days.
R value
In the first real good news in some weeks, India’s R value — which is a measure of how many people each Covid infected person spreads the disease to — has shown a sharp fall. Once it falls below 1, the pandemic may gradually get under control.
Active cases
The total of active cases in the country currently stands at 6,61,595. This is about a quarter of the overall total cases in the country, and forms the base on which the growth of cases will happen.
Number of deaths
The daily death figure has once again breached 1,000-mark. India may draw consolation from its fatality rate but the fatalities in absolute numbers are starting to look grim.
Mortality rate
Both the national average of case fatality rate and the rate in states are on their way down. However, this is on the back of huge rises in disease burden on a daily basis. Nationally, in the last 24 hours, 64,553 cases were reported.
Daily tests
The total tests done in the last 24 hours are 8,48,728. This is a new high for India, which aims to eventually test a million a day. This target is in line bringing the positivity rate to 5 per cent, officials say.
Positivity rate
Of all the samples tested in the last 24 hours, 7.6 per cent tested positive. This is an improvement from a few weeks ago when the positivity rate was breaching 10 per cent almost on a daily basis. The goal is to reach 5 per cent.
Recovered cases
At 56,383, India touched another peak of the highest ever single-day recoveries. With this number, the total recovered Covid-19 patients touched nearly 17 lakh today.
Total cases
Recording over one lakh cases every two days, India’s disease burden is fast approaching 25 lakh. It currently stands at 24,61,190.
High burden states
Maharashtra has the highest disease burden in the country and continues to report high numbers both of cases and deaths. Several central teams and some major criticism of the state government by opposition parties have failed to change that ground reality.
Tamil Nadu, like Maharashtra, has been an early starter but the numbers are still piling up. The only difference is that the mortality rate is below the national average, unlike in Maharashtra where it is the second highest in the country.
Infections in Karnataka‘s chief minister, the former chief minister and a slew of state ministers turned the spotlight on the state. The rising numbers also show no signs of abating. However, the case fatality rate is below the national average.
Andhra Pradesh, which started its testing push rather belatedly, is paying a heavy price now despite having emerged as one of the best testing states in the country. The fatality rate is below 1 per cent.
Delhi‘s topsy turvy story — from being a problem to a solution — continues. It was touted as a model in the last meeting the Prime Minister held with states, but is now beginning to show signs of a second spike. The Delhi government says outsiders have added to its numbers.
Tests and positive cases
Delhi continues to test less than 20,000 samples a day even as other states and Union Territories test more than triple their number. It is also conducting the most antigen tests.