New Delhi: India added over 1.5 lakh cases over the weekend, taking the total Covid numbers past 18 lakh. India also saw more than 2,000 deaths, though the deaths as a percentage of the population remain low.
The daily testing numbers sputtered again after crossing 6 lakh last week. India, in fact, has among the lowest tests per million population in the world, at par with countries like Pakistan, Mexico, Bangladesh and Indonesia. The doubling time still varies widely among states — over 95 days in Delhi and less than 10 days in Andhra Pradesh.
Active cases
The total active cases in the country stand at 5,79,357. Over the weekend, India added over 1.5 lakh cases — 57,118 on 31 July, 54,735 on 1 August and 52,972 on 2 August.
Number of deaths
There were 771 deaths in the last 24 hours, taking the total toll up to 38,135. Over the weekend, over 1,600 more deaths were reported.
Mortality rate
The mortality rate in Gujarat has fallen below 4 per cent even though the state remains at the bottom of the chart still. In fact, the bottom nine states remain constant in their ranks though the death rate is reducing in all of them.
Daily tests
After crossing the 6 lakh mark last week, the daily testing numbers recorded a sharp fall to settle at 38,1027. Currently, the testing per million for India is 14,640. The number also includes antigen tests for which it is mandatory for symptomatic negatives to be subjected to an RT-PCR test too.
Positivity rate
The usual weekend fall in testing numbers has pushed the positivity rate in the danger zone once again. It stood at 13.9 per cent Monday.
Recovered cases
In the last 24 hours, 40,574 people have recovered from Covid-19, taking the total recoveries now to 11,86,203. This is 65.77 per cent of the total disease burden.
Total cases
The total number of coronavirus cases continue to look grim at 18,03,695. The country is now recording over a lakh cases every two days even as official communications continue to focus only on recoveries.
High burden states
Maharashtra reported 9,509 cases in the last 24 hours along with 260 deaths. The doubling time is now over 31 days while the growth rate is 2.32 per cent.
Though Tamil Nadu set new testing benchmarks consistently for several weeks now, Tamil Nadu has 2,57,613 confirmed cases with a doubling time of over 26 days. The case fatality rate is below 2 per cent.
Karnataka, which emerged as a hotspot only recently, has a doubling time of just over two weeks now. Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa has now announced that he has tested positive.
Andhra Pradesh has sharply upped its testing game. The state reported 8,555 cases and 67 deaths in the last 24 hours. Its positivity rate is below 8 per cent and case fatality rate is below 1 per cent.
Delhi reported 961 cases and 15 deaths in the last 24 hours. The positivity rate stands at 7.5 per cent.
Tests and positive cases
Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh are now in a healthy race for title of state with most daily tests. Tamil Nadu emerged at the top in the last 24 hours. Testing in Delhi is in a virtual free fall now.
Also read: Bihar’s positivity rate sees sharp drop while Goa, the highest tester, see its number climb