The government on Wednesday said the number of deaths reported per lakh population in India due to coronavirus is just 0.2 as against the global average of 4.2 people per lakh population.
The number of COVID-19 cases in India is 1,06,750 while 3,303 people have succumbed to the disease, the figures released by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare show. Globally, 49.3 lakh people have been infected of the virus while 3.24 lakh people have died.
Addressing a media briefing on the matter, Lav Agarwal, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, said 62 people per lakh population of the world have been infected by COVID-19 while in India, the figure is just 7.9 people cases per lakh population.
Figures in 10 most infected countries range from 115 to 496. In 6 countries more than 2 lakh cases have been recorded and even as high as 14 lakh cases have been recorded in a country, he said.
Overall, 4.2 people per lakh population have died due to COVID-19. Nine countries have reported more than 10 deaths per lakh population. In India, the number of deaths reported per lakh population is just 0.2, he added.
As per the Ministry of Health analysis, in the 15 most impacted countries in the world which together has a population of 142 crores (approximately), 36.45 lakh cases have been recorded whereas in India which has a population of 137 crores, around 1 lakh COVID-19 cases have been recorded.
Similarly, while 2.7 lakh (approximately) deaths have been recorded in those countries taken together, Agarwal said.
India, which has a population close to the total population of these countries taken together, has recorded 34 times less number of cases and 83 times less deaths. Urging that we need to focus on dealing in the right manner with positive cases and providing a proper health infrastructure to the patients, the Joint Secretary said.
He pointed out that the country’s graded, proactive and pre-emptive approach, in coordination with states, with focus on prevention, containment and management of cases has yielded relatively positive results so far.
Out of total cases, patients who have recovered stand at 42,298, while 61,149 people are under active medical supervision in the country as on date.
When lockdown had just started, the recovery rate in India was around 7.1%. With more efforts to identify cases earlier and proper clinical management of positive cases, the recovery rate went up to 11.42% at the start of Lockdown 2, which steadily went up to 26.59% and now it stands at 39.62%.
It means that approximately 40% of patients who tested positive for COVID-19 have recovered, he said.
Further, only 2.94% out of the 61,000 (approx.) active cases require oxygen support, while 3% cases are on ICU support and 0.45% cases are on ventilator support. This data significantly throws light on the fact that early identification and proper surveillance has led only 6.39% cases to have hospital management.
Responding to a media question on the revised discharge policy, the Joint Secretary said, “Evidence shows that pre-symptomatic/mild/moderate cases with no fever for 10 days will not spread COVID-19 infection, they have hence been allowed to go home, do home isolation and take required precautions.”