New Delhi: Over 55,000 fresh cases in the last 24 hours may have pushed the Covid numbers past 16 lakh, but the number of patients requiring respiratory support is less than 5% of the total active cases, a Group of Ministers (GoM) was informed Friday.
India also touched a new high in testing in the last 24 hours. This, along with lower positivity since 7 July, which is another good news, has raised hopes that the positivity rate will start to inch towards the 5% “ideal” as and when the target of 10 lakh daily tests is met.
Active cases
There are currently 5,45,318 active Covid cases in the country. Of these, 0.28% patients are on ventilators, 1.61% patients needed ICU support and 2.32% are on oxygen support.
Number of deaths
The last 24 hours saw 779 deaths due to Covid, taking the toll up to 35,747. “India’s case fatality rate is also progressively reducing, and currently stands at 2.18%, one of the lowest globally,” Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan told the GoM. It was the 19th meeting of the group Friday.
Mortality rate
Manipur reported its first four deaths in the last 24 hours. The state has now made its debut on mortality chart, placed ahead of Sikkim. The rankings at the bottom remain constant.
Daily tests
India’s testing numbers again showed a sharp rise — 6,42,588 in all. The goal of one million tests a day now looks more reachable. The positivity stands at 8.5% — the first time since 7 July that it has breached 9%.
Positivity rate
The sharp fall in positivity rate over the last few days is good news as India starts to look at the WHO “ideal” of 5% with a further push to testing. Currently, tests are being conducted in 1,331 labs (911 government and 420 private).
Recovered cases
India has achieved the milestone of more than 1 million recoveries, which has taken the recovery rate to 64.54%, the GoM was told. The highest recovery rate has been recorded by Delhi at 89.08%, followed by Haryana (79.82%).
Total cases
India’s total caseload now stands at 16,38,870. Cumulatively, 268.25 lakh N95 masks, 120.40 lakh PPEs and 1,083.77 lakh HCQ tablets have been distributed among states, union territories and central institutions so far.
High-burden states
Maharashtra reported 11,147 cases and 266 deaths in the last 24 hours, taking its total to 4,11,798. The positivity rate remains more than double the national average. This is a cause for concern.
Tamil Nadu reported 5,864 cases and 97 deaths in the last 24 hours, taking its total to 2,39,978. The fatality rate is 1.6% and the doubling time is about 23 days.
Delhi reported 1,093 cases and 29 deaths in the last 24 hours. The total now stands at 1,34,403, of which 1,19,724 have recovered. Of the total 15,634 beds in hospitals, 12,684 are vacant.
Andhra Pradesh’s massive testing push, some would say a little belated, has pushed its positivity down but the caseload remains high — 1,30,557. As many as 68 people died in the last 24 hours.
Karnataka now has a doubling time close to 13 days with 6,128 cases and 83 deaths having been reported in the last 24 hours. The case fatality rate currently is 1.89%. Karnataka has the lowest recovery rate of 39.36%.
Tests and positive cases
Andhra Pradesh continues to lead the testing numbers, followed by Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra. However, the latter’s daily caseload is the highest. Delhi is a distant fifth in testing among the top high-burden states.
Also read: Tripura records highest infection rate, Bihar is still the worst performer on testing