Coronavirus numbers explained: Covid spike in India enters the runaway phase

One of the biggest reasons is that there are more cases now are due to increased COVID-19 testing in the country.

The Coronavirus pandemic has been wreaking havoc in India and the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country has surpassed the 42-lakh mark. This resulted in India replacing Brazil as the country with the second-highest number of Coronavirus cases. The US has reported the highest number of coronavirus cases in the world.

Last week alone, India reported more than 600,000 new Covid-19 cases, mostly from 10 states. Among these, Maharashtra alone contributed 22 per cent to the new case tally, a report by The Indian Express highlighted. The new case number per day has been increasing in the country. And it touched a new high last week; on Sunday, around 90,800 cases were detected.

According to the report, the rise in Covid-19 cases in Maharashtra is depicting a pattern that is similar to the country as a whole in the past two weeks. Maharashtra has been reporting 12,000-14,000 coronavirus cases per day, on an average a day. In the last two days, the state, however, has reported more than 40,000 cases. Apart from Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh too has been consistently recording a surge in COVID-19 cases, with 10,000-11,000 new cases every day. The report asserted Delhi to be “evolving into a long-term trend.” Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh are too not far behind when it comes to Coronavirus transmission. Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand, where the transmission rate has been comparatively low, the states are gaining pace and have recorded the fastest growth rate last week.

According to the report, the country has come to a point where even government interventions may not bring major changes to the Covid-19 transmission rate. One of the biggest reasons is that there are more cases now are due to increased COVID-19 testing in the country. It is believed that people were infected earlier also, but testing was not aggressive. Therefore, a direct relation between the two can be drawn.

Meanwhile, there are 8,82,542 active cases in India, data by the Union Health Ministry pointed out. With a good recovery rate, 32,50,429 people have been recovered/ discharged whereas the death toll has reached 71,642.