Positivity rate: Karnataka, Bihar, Bengal and Andhra emerge as new hotspots

NEW DELHI: Maharashtra continues to top the positivity rate chart but new states have emerged as hotspots over the 14-day period from July 15 to July 28 even as the national rate of total confirmed cases per 100 tests has risen to 11.2% from 10% in the preceding fortnight.
Following Maharashtra with a positivity rate of 21% are Karnataka (18%), Bihar (16%), West Bengal (15%), Andhra Pradesh (14%) and Odisha (11%). Erstwhile hotspots such as Delhi, Gujarat and Telangana are now at the 11th, 10th and 7th positions, respectively.

A positivity rate of 5% or below over a 14-day period is considered safe for relaxing lockdown measures. Anything above that is considered a ‘red zone’. Also, higher the positivity rate, likelier that only the sickest are being tested and a large infected population remains untested.
Delhi has made remarkable progress with its positivity rate coming down from 15% (July 2-15) to 6% (July 15-28). In early June, Delhi’s rate of confirmed cases had risen to 30%. Telangana, too, has shown a downward trend with its positivity rate declining from 19% to 10%. In Gujarat, it has come down from 10.6% to 6.5%.
TN and Gujarat, which were adding a large number of cases every fortnight, have seen a slowdown with the positivity rate coming down from 11% to 10% in TN and 11% to 7% in Gujarat.