New Delhi: India’s effective reproduction number (R) for Covid-19, an indicator of how fast the infection is spreading, has decreased to 0.94 from 0.98 last week, as R values for several key states dropped below 1.
R indicates the average number of people who are likely to get infected from one Covid-positive person. R should remain below 1 for the pandemic to come to an end.
Last week, the R value had risen very close to 1, sparking fears that active cases in India may start increasing again post Diwali.
However, all states with high active cases now have R below 1, bringing down the overall R value for the country.
Fall in Kerala, West Bengal, Telangana
Kerala’s R value has fallen to 0.96 from 1.08 last week, while for West Bengal, the corresponding figures are 0.96 and 1.07.
Telangana’s R has come down to 0.95 from 1.06 last week, while Tamil Nadu, Assam and Karnataka’s values are similar to last week at 0.92, 0.93 and 0.95 respectively.
Some states also saw a rise in R, although the value remains below 1. In Maharashtra, the figure rose to 0.88 from 0.77 last week, while in Mizoram, it increased to 0.88 from 0.79.
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Major cities
The picture is somewhat different in major cities as several have R over 1. For Delhi, R has decreased to 1 this week from 1.1 last week.
Mumbai’s R increased to 1 from 0.94 last week, while Pune, where R had been estimated to be 0.39 last week, has seen a sharp rise to 1.11 this week. Bengaluru’s R also rose to 1.04 from 1.02 last week.
Chennai’s R also rose slightly, to 0.91 from 0.90. But in Kolkata, R reduced to 0.96 from 1.11 last week.
(Edited by Paramita Ghosh)
Also read: India’s R rises to 0.98 after 6-week dip, hovers above 1 in Delhi, Bengaluru & Kolkata