India: Half of all coronavirus cases in 18-44 age group
The Union Ministry of Health on Wednesday revealed that over half of the total coronavirus infections in India are among people in the age groups 18-44 years. The Ministry also said that over 50% of all coronavirus-related deaths occurred among those who are above the age of 60. India has reported over 37 lakh coronavirus infections so far. Here are more details.
54% COVID-19 cases in 18-44 years age group
The Health Ministry tweeted on Wednesday morning, "54% COVID-19 cases are in the 18-44 years age group but 51% deaths are in the 60 years and above age group." The Ministry also said that India's COVID-19 Case Fatality Rate (CFR) is among the lowest in the world, at 1.76%. India's CFR is also lower than the global average of 3.3%.
India's COVID-19 deaths/million population among world's lowest
Further, the deaths per million population in India is one of the lowest in the world, the Ministry noted. India has reported 48 deaths per million population against a global average of 110 deaths per million population, the Ministry said.
India reports 37.7 lakh cases, over 66k deaths
Overall, India has reported a total of 37,69,523 COVID-19 cases, according to Health Ministry data, last updated at 8 am on Wednesday. The data showed that India reported 78,357 fresh infections in the past 24 hours. Notably, 29,01,908 of all cases include patients who have been discharged after recovery, taking the recovery rate to almost 77%. The nationwide death toll is 66,333.
India world's third worst-hit country in outbreak
The highest single-day spike of nearly 80,000 fresh infections was reported on August 30. This also marked the highest single-day spike of fresh coronavirus infections for any nation in the world. India already has the third-highest number of infections for any country worldwide after the United States (60.75 lakh cases; over 1.8 lakh deaths) and Brazil (39.50 lakh cases; over 1.2 lakh deaths).
Recent study underlines importance of health protocol
Meanwhile, a recent study showed that widespread mask use and social distancing measures could help prevent over two lakh coronavirus-related deaths in India by December 1. The study was conducted by the University of Washington's Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation. In a 'no-intervention' scenario, the study predicted 60 lakh daily new cases and a death toll of five lakh by early to mid-December.
Health Ministry urges people to continue following safety protocol
The Health Ministry has urged citizens to follow COVID-19 safety guidelines strictly. The Ministry said, "It continues to be important to observe COVID-19 appropriate safe behavior of wearing masks/face covers in public, following hand hygiene and cough etiquette."
