New Delhi: Despite a slight dip, India’s daily Covid-19 positive numbers continue to remain high. In the last one week alone, over 8,000 people have died from the infection.
India is now testing about 720 samples per million population per day but the positivity rate is nowhere close to the 5 per cent that is considered ideal. After rising for several days, case fatality rate in Punjab has shown a slight dip though it still remains the highest in the country.
Active cases
Over 48.8 per cent of the active cases are concentrated in the three states of Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Kerala and Telangana contribute close to a quarter (24.4 per cent) of the active cases which now total 9,90,061.
Number of deaths
In the last 24 hours, 1,054 people died, taking the total to 80,776. Of these, 8,001 people have died in the last one week alone. This is more than the total toll in countries like Bangladesh, Pakistan, Turkey, Ukraine and Bolivia. More than 37 per cent of deaths reported are from Maharashtra (29,894 deaths). The state reported 34.44 per cent of the deaths in the last 24 hours (363 deaths).
Mortality rate
The top four states in terms of case fatality rate remain the same, though Punjab’s mortality rate, which has been rising for some time now, shows a small dip. Fifteen states, including big ones like Andhra Pradesh and Kerala, have a CFR below 1.
Daily tests
In the last 24 hours, 10,72,845 tests were done, taking the total to 5,83,12,273. In his statement in the Parliament, Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan had said at 720 tests per million population per day, India’s testing is much higher than what is stipulated by WHO, which is 140 tests per million population per day.
Positivity rate
Of the total tests done in the last 24 hours, the positivity rate is 7.8 per cent. This figure is slightly misleading as it includes antigen tests, while a clear breakup of the other kinds of tests is not available. According to the testing protocol, symptomatic negatives tested with antigen have to be retested using RT-PCR.
Recovered cases
With the total recovery rate currently standing at 78.28 per cent, 79,292 people have recovered and were discharged in the last 24 hours. The total recovered cases stand at 38,59,399. The gap between recovered and active cases crossed 28 lakh Tuesday (28,69,338). In the last 24 hours, 83,809 positives were reported.
Total cases
India currently has 49,30,236 Covid-19 cases in the country, which is the second highest in the world and next only to the United States. About a quarter of that number are active cases.
High burden states
With 14,514 active cases, of which 7,956 were reported in the last 24 hours, Andhra Pradesh’s total Covid-19 tally of 5,75,079 is the second-highest in the country. The doubling time is close to 40 days against a national average of 35 days.
With 17,066 cases and 365 deaths reported in the last 24 hours, Maharashtra alone has so far seen 10,77,374 Covid-19 cases, with a current doubling time of 32.38 days. The case fatality rate is 2.77 per cent.
With a doubling time of 34 days and a total case load of 4,67,689, Karnataka has lost its initial advantage to become a permanent fixture in the top five worst-hit states. In the last 24 hours, the state reported 119 deaths.
Tamil Nadu remains in the top five states but the good news is that its active cases are on the decline. The state is also an exception because almost all its tests are RT-PCR. The case fatality rate, at 1.66 per cent, is marginally less than the national average of 1.64 per cent.
Of the 3,17,195 cases so far reported from Uttar Pradesh, 67,287 are active cases. The state has a doubling time of 32 days and a case fatality rate of 1.42 per cent. In the last 24 hours, 5,159 cases and 62 deaths were reported.
Testing and positive cases
Daily testing numbers vary widely among states, with Uttar Pradesh being the leader for a long time now. Maharashtra has picked up too, but Karnataka’s numbers are less than half of Uttar Pradesh with 60 per cent higher positives.