India’s Case Fatality Rate (CFR) has fallen below 2.5% for the first time on Sunday, according to a statement issued by Union Health Ministry. The Ministry attributes this reduction to the focused efforts of the Centre and State/UT governments on efficient clinical management of hospitalised cases.

“The effective containment strategy, aggressive testing and standardised clinical management protocols based on holistic standard care approach has now caused the case fatality rate to significantly dip and India now has one of the lowest case fatality rates in the world (2.49%) which is also progressively falling,” said a Ministry release.

As per data issued by the Ministry, currently there are 29 States and UTs with CFR lower than the India average. Five States and UTs have a CFR of zero; 14 States and UTs have a CFR of less than 1%.

The Central government said on Sunday that many State/UT governments have ramped up testing and hospital infrastructure by combining public and private sector efforts.

“Many States have conducted the population surveys to map and identify the vulnerable population like the elderly, pregnant women and those with co-morbidities. This, with the help of technological solutions like mobile apps, has ensured keeping the high-risk population under continuous observation, thus aiding early identification, timely clinical treatment and reducing fatalities,” said the Ministry.

It also acknowledged the work at the ground level by frontline health workers like ASHAs and ANMs, who according to the Ministry have done a commendable job of managing the migrant population and to enhance awareness at the community level.

States and UTs having a CFR below the national average include Tripura (0.19%), Assam (0.23%), Kerala (0.34%), Odisha (0.51%), Goa (0.60%), Himachal Pradesh (0.75%), Bihar (0.83%), Telangana (0.93%), Andhra Pradesh (1.31%), Tamil Nadu (1.45%), Chandigarh (1.71%), Rajasthan (1.94%), Karnataka (2.08%) and Uttar Pradesh (2.36%).

COVID case fatality rate