Coronavirus: Active cases drop below 8 lakh after 1.5 months
For the first time in 1.5 months, the number of active coronavirus infections has fallen under eight lakh, the Union Health Ministry said on Saturday. Over the past few days, the number of daily new recoveries has been higher than the number of fresh infections, causing a steady decline in the number of active cases. Here are more details.
India has reported 74.3 lakh cases, 1.12 lakh deaths
As of 8 am on Saturday, India reported a total of 74,32,680 COVID-19 cases, after registering 62,212 new cases in the past 24 hours. The total cases include 7,95,087 active cases and 65,24,595 recoveries. The death toll climbed to 1,12,998 with the addition of 837 more fatalities. Although India remains the world's second worst-hit country, the outbreak's pace has been slowing down.
Average positivity rate stands at 6%
India continues to report the highest number of daily infections for any country. However, new cases have dropped below 70,000 a day, down from nearly one lakh in mid-September. The average positivity rate is 6%, as nearly 10 lakh tests were conducted in the past 24 hours. The Health Ministry highlighted that India has one of the lowest deaths per million population globally.
Five states continue to report rise in infections
Worryingly though, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Kerala, Rajasthan, and West Bengal have been reporting a rise in infections. The Centre has sent high-level teams to these states to help control the viral spread. Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, and Uttar Pradesh remain the worst-hit in terms of cumulative cases. Barring UP, the other states also continue to report the highest number of new cases.
As experts predict second spike, Modi calls for continued vigilance
Notably, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has called for continued vigilance as experts have predicted another spike in infections in the winter months that follow. A rise in pollution in parts of North India could further aggravate the situation as the coronavirus is a respiratory virus.
Globally, over 39 million people have contracted COVID-19
The coronavirus has infected 39.3 million people worldwide and led to 1.1 million deaths. The United States is the worst-hit country, with over 8 million infections and nearly 2.2 lakh deaths. The data indicates that one out of every five case deaths in the world were reported in the US. Brazil is the third worst-hit with 52 lakh cases and over 1.5 lakh deaths.
