New Delhi: The daily Covid tally recorded a new high of 56,282 in the last 24 hours and there were 904 deaths, the highest casualties on a day when no state has updated pending death figures.
There is a marginal dip in the rate of transmission but there is no doubt that the disease graph is still in its growth phase in the country. Though the positivity rate remained below 10 nationally, testing in Delhi is in a virtual free fall. However, the positivity in the national capital is now inching towards the WHO “ideal” of 5 per cent, which is good news.
Rate of transmission
The R value, which estimates the rate of transmission of an infection, has dipped slightly this week from 1.17 a week ago. It estimates the average number of people one Covid positive person ends up infecting.
Active cases
The total active cases in the country are now 5,95,501. This is a little over a quarter of the total cases in the country.
Number of deaths
Yet another psychological barrier has now been breached in the daily deaths after they touched 900 Thursday morning. The mortality rate is 2 per cent now, riding on the back of over 50,000 cases every day and not an actual reduction in deaths.
Mortality rate
There are wide variations in the mortality rate of states. Those with mortality rates higher than the national average are West Bengal, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Maharashtra and Gujarat.
Daily tests
In the last 24 hours, 6,64,949 tests were conducted. So far, 2,21,49,351 tests have been done in India. Tests are an important parameter because low tests can cause cases to be missed. As WHO had said early on in March, “test test test”.
We are deeply grateful to our readers & viewers for their time, trust and subscriptions.
Quality journalism is expensive and needs readers to pay for it. Your support will define our work and ThePrint’s future.
Positivity rate
The positivity rate on Thursday stood at 8.4 per cent. This is an improvement from last week when the positivity rate has remained high since just 3.8-5.2 lakh tests were being done every day.
Recovered cases
In the last seven months, 13,28,336 people got Covid and also recovered from it. In the last 24 hours alone, 46,121 people were declared disease free.
Total cases
The total cases are now within touching distance of 2 million, a landmark which will likely be reached this Friday. It is, however, the daily positives — 56,282 in the last 24 hours — that are a cause of concern.
High burden states
In the last 24 hours in Karnataka, 5,619 people were diagnosed with Covid and 100 died, taking the total toll to 2,812. The state has a doubling time of just under 17 days and the cumulative positivity rate is a little less than 10.
Maharashtra, the state with the highest Covid burden in the country, continues to record high daily numbers — 10,309 cases and 334 deaths in the last 24 hours. The total is now 4,68,265, almost a quarter of the national Covid burden.
Tamil Nadu reported 5,175 cases and 112 deaths in the last 24 hours. The doubling time is just over 32 days and the total now stands at 2,73,460
Andhra Pradesh, according to government projections, has the highest growth trajectory right now in the country. It reported 10,128 cases in the last 24 hours and 77 deaths.
In the last 24 hours, Delhi reported 1,076 cases and 11 deaths. Though the testing numbers are falling, the 6.4 per cent positivity rate is reassuring as is the fact that the doubling time is now close to 100 days in the city.
Tests and positive cases
Delhi’s testing free fall continues, registering just 16,785 tests in the last 24 hours, of which 11,915 were antigen tests. Maharashtra on the other hand is the leader with 73,895 tests.
Subscribe to our channels on YouTube & Telegram
News media is in a crisis & only you can fix it
You are reading this because you value good, intelligent and objective journalism. We thank you for your time and your trust.
You also know that the news media is facing an unprecedented crisis. It is likely that you are also hearing of the brutal layoffs and pay-cuts hitting the industry. There are many reasons why the media’s economics is broken. But a big one is that good people are not yet paying enough for good journalism.
We have a newsroom filled with talented young reporters. We also have the country’s most robust editing and fact-checking team, finest news photographers and video professionals. We are building India’s most ambitious and energetic news platform. And we aren’t even three yet.
At ThePrint, we invest in quality journalists. We pay them fairly and on time even in this difficult period. As you may have noticed, we do not flinch from spending whatever it takes to make sure our reporters reach where the story is. Our stellar coronavirus coverage is a good example. You can check some of it here.
This comes with a sizable cost. For us to continue bringing quality journalism, we need readers like you to pay for it. Because the advertising market is broken too.
If you think we deserve your support, do join us in this endeavour to strengthen fair, free, courageous, and questioning journalism, please click on the link below. Your support will define our journalism, and ThePrint’s future. It will take just a few seconds of your time.