COVID-19 'still raging,' 8 states show rise in R-factor: Government
The coronavirus pandemic is "still raging" in the country, the Indian government warned on Tuesday, calling it a significant problem. Eight states have shown a rise in the R-factor, government officials added. Further, 44 districts across India have reported a high test positivity rate while 18 districts saw an increasing trend in infections over the past four weeks. Here are more details.
'Second wave still not over in India'
"Delta variant is a dominant problem. The pandemic is still raging and the second wave is persisting in our own country," Dr. VK Paul, the chief of India's coronavirus task force, said. The Delta variant had driven the country's devastating second wave of the pandemic.
R-factor is above 1 in several states
States where R-factor is currently more than one are Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Lakshadweep, Tamil Nadu, Mizoram, Karnataka, Puducherry, Kerala. The value is at one in states such as West Bengal, Nagaland, Haryana, Goa, Delhi, and Jharkhand. "Whenever R number is above one, it means that the case trajectory is increasing and it needs to be controlled," said Lav Agarwal, Health Ministry Secretary.
What is the R-factor?
R-factor is the rate or speed at which a disease spreads in a community. In simpler terms, it is a measure of how many people an infected person is further infecting at a certain point in time. For instance, an R-factor of 1.0 implies an infected person will, on an average, transmit the virus to one more person.
India's coronavirus situation
India had faced the world's worst coronavirus outbreak earlier this year, reporting lakhs of cases and thousands of deaths daily amid a crumpled healthcare system. The situation has since improved, with the country reporting around 40,000 cases in the past few weeks. However, experts have warned that a third wave of infections could hit India as early as this month.
How is India's vaccination drive going?
India has administered more than 47 crore vaccine doses so far. Even though nearly 27% of the Indian population have received at least one shot, just about 7.5% have been fully vaccinated as yet. India has set a target of inoculating a billion people by the end of this year. However, several states continue to report a shortage of vaccines.
