New Delhi: India’s effective reproduction number (R) for Covid-19, which indicates how fast the infection is spreading, has increased from 1.18 to 1.30 in the last two weeks.
This is the highest the value has been since April last year when India was under total lockdown, according to Sitabhra Sinha, a researcher at the Institute of Mathematical Sciences in Chennai, who has been tracking R since the beginning of the pandemic.
All 16 states that have the highest share of active cases in the country have R above 1, Sinha told ThePrint.
For a pandemic to come to an end, the R value has to be sustained under 1.
At present, Uttar Pradesh has recorded the highest infection value at 1.62, an increase from 1.10 in the last two weeks. This is followed by Andhra Pradesh whose R increased from 1.31 to 1.61 this week.
Chhattisgarh’s R stands at 1.57, which increased from 1.44 in the last two weeks. The state has the third-highest active cases in India and recently entered the rank.
Delhi is currently witnessing its fourth wave of Covid infections and its R increased to 1.47 this week. Two weeks ago, the value was 1.23.
Rajasthan also has a high infection rate at 1.46 from 1.24, two weeks ago.
West Bengal, where elections are underway, saw a spike in its R to 1.35 this week from 1.02.
Also read: India records 93,249 fresh coronavirus cases in 24 hours, biggest spike since September
R rises in Tamil Nadu, drops in Maharashtra
Telangana, Uttarakhand, Tamil Nadu and Madhya Pradesh also witnessed a spike in their R values.
In Telangana, the R value was 1.14 two weeks ago but the state saw the value rise to 1.37 this week.
Similarly, Uttarakhand’s R rose from around 1 to 1.23 in a span of two weeks. Tamil Nadu’s R increased to 1.37 from 1.23.
Madhya Pradesh’s R increased from 1.25 to 1.37 in the last two weeks.
Maharashtra, which has the highest number of active cases in the country and saw almost 50,000 cases in the last 24 hours, saw a dip in R from 1.29 to 1.18 this week. Punjab also saw a dip in R from 1.32 to 1.12.
Gujarat’s R, too, went down from 1.24 to 1.17 this week.
Most major cities continue to register exponentially high R values.
Chennai’s R increased from 1.20 to 1.38 this week and Kolkata’s R increased from 1.05 to 1.36. Bengaluru also saw its R rise to 1.40 from 1.17.
Meanwhile, Mumbai’s R remained unchanged in the last two weeks at 1.28. Pune, however, saw its R drop from 1.36 to 1.29 this week.
Also read: Govt stops fresh registration of health, frontline workers for Covid vaccine to check ‘frauds’