New Delhi: After a brief reprieve of five days, Covid numbers are up again — positives, positivity rate and deaths. As officials had said in the daily briefing Tuesday, five days is a short time in a pandemic.
The number of tests, after Monday’s record, has fallen even as high numbers of recoveries continued to be reported. Uttar Pradesh entered the top five high burden states only recently, but it has already emerged as a leader in daily tests.
Active cases
The number of Covid cases in the country currently under active medical supervision — either in a hospital or in home quarantine — is currently 6,76,514. This is less than 1/4th (24.45 per cent) of the total positive cases.
Number of deaths
After five days of a downward trend that government officials had called “reassuring” in the Tuesday weekly briefing, daily deaths crossed 1,000 Wednesday. In fact, this is the highest daily casualty to have been recorded without adding any updates from pending data.
Mortality rate
The current case fatality rate nationally stands at 1.91 per cent — the same as in Jammu and Kashmir. The states that have a higher death rate are Gujarat, Maharashtra, Delhi, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal. Of these, only Maharashtra features among the high burden states.
Daily tests
The number of tests conducted in the last 24 hours slipped after setting a new record Monday. However, it still is a high figure and India seems to be on course for its target or conducting a million tests a day. There are also plans to review the testing strategy to make testing-on-demand easier.
Positivity rate
Having touched its lowest in over two months a day ago, the positivity rate has spiked again on the wings of reduction in tests and an upswing in Covid positives — the most since 14 August. Government officials, however, have declared that India is in control of the pandemic.
Recovered cases
The total number of recoveries crossed 20 lakh today and currently stands at 20,37,870. In the last 24 hours, 60,091 people recovered. The recovery rate has now crossed 73 per cent. However, with the case fatality rate at 1.91 per cent, over 98 per cent Covid-19 patients are expected to recover anyway.
Total cases
With 64,531 cases reported in the last 24 hours, the total Covid cases in the country is 27,67,273. This is fast approaching the 30 lakh mark even as deaths remain a concern. Though a quarter of these patients have recovered, the active case number in itself is formidable.
High burden states
Maharashtra’s Covid total reached 6,15,477 after the state recorded 11,119 new cases and 422 deaths in the last 24 hours. It is testing over 50,000 samples a day and has a doubling time of about 36 days. The case fatality rate is 3.36 per cent.
Karnataka, with a doubling time of just over 20 days, has reported 7,665 cases and 139 deaths in the last 24 hours. The growth rate is 3.56 per cent and the case fatality rate 1.75 per cent, less than the national average.
Andhra Pradesh has a doubling time of 22 days. The state reported 9,652 cases and 88 deaths in the last 24 hours, at a growth rate of 3.27 per cent. The case fatality rate is 0.92 per cent.
Tamil Nadu has been one of two constants in the top five list from the very beginning, along with Maharashtra. The state recorded 5,709 cases and 121 deaths in the last 24 hours. It’s doubling time though, is higher than the national average.
Uttar Pradesh is the newest entrant on the list. The state has sharply increased its testing in the last few weeks and reported 4,218 cases and 70 deaths in the last 24 hours. It has a doubling time of close to 24 days and a case fatality rate of 1.59 per cent.
Tests and positive cases
Uttar Pradesh has tested a phenomenal 93,774 samples in the last 24 hours, which is why despite being among the top five high burden states, its daily positivity rate is currently at 4.6 per cent, lower than the 5 per cent target set by the World Health Organization.