News Analysis India

Tag: test positivity rate

  • Relax Covid curbs if TPR below 5% and 70% vulnerable groups vaccinated: Centre to districts

    Express News Service
    NEW DELHI: The Union government on Tuesday listed out two crucial parameters for opening up districts after weeks of heavy restrictions to contain Covid spread —  test positivity rate of less than 5% for at least a week and a minimum of 70% vaccination coverage for the vulnerable groups.

    There are 344 districts in India as of now which have a positivity rate of under 5%, as per the data shared by the Centre.

    In terms of easing the district-wise lockdown and begin unlocking across states, authorities added that for opening districts, Covid positivity rate should be below 5% for a week but maintained that community ownership of Covid appropriate behaviour remains a crucial tool to keep the pandemic under control.

    Officials also insisted that over 70% of the vulnerable population — people above the age of 60 years and also those above 45 and with comorbidities — must have received vaccine doses in such districts.

    “Gradual lifting (of lockdown) will not witness a massive surge. However, we have to ensure that vaccination is prioritised. The vaccination rate for the vulnerable population must be up to 70% and Covid appropriate behaviour should be followed, “said Balram Bhargava, ICMR Director General during a press briefing on Covid situation in India.

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    The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that the positivity rate should remain below 5% for at least two weeks before an outbreak can be considered to be under control in a geography.

    As coronavirus cases across India are now showing a declining trend, many states that had resorted to lockdowns to combat and contain the deadly second wave are slowly opening up but some states such as Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh have extended the Covid-related curbs with specific relaxation.

    The figures presented by the Union health ministry, meanwhile, showed that there has been a steady decline in weekly test positivity rate since the last three weeks even when the testing has increased significantly.

    The weekly test positivity rate in the country was 8.31% on Monday while the daily positivity rate which had crossed 22% during the peak in early May tapered down to 6.62% on the last day of the month.

    Statistics also showed that 30 states in India reported decline in active cases since last week and there has been a consistent decline in active cases which presently stands at 18.95 lakh.

    The active Covid cases have come down by over 18 lakhs since the peak on May 10 which means there has been a decline of almost 50%.

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  • India seeing stabilisation of Covid second wave, says Centre

    Express News Service
    NEW DELHI: The Union government on Thursday said that India is now seeing a stabilisation of the second wave of Covid pandemic as the active Covid cases and test positivity rate have maintained a declining trend after peaking in early May.

    The active coronavirus cases, which had reached over 40 lakh-mark in the first week of this month, have seen a steep decline of 13 lakh over the last 17 days while the 7-day moving average TPR has now come down under 10% after crossing 21%. 

    “It is reassuring that we are on the downswing of the second wave, and it will be sustained if restrictions open up systematically as the time comes,” said VK Paul, member (health), Niti Aayog who also heads the national Covid task force.

    The figures presented by the Union health ministry in a press briefing on Thursday showed that there is a steady decline in daily Covid cases since May 7, when India saw 414,188 people testing positive for the viral disease- the highest single day spike since the beginning of the pandemic last year.

    In the last 24 hours, the country recorded 2,11,298 new Covid cases of which Tamil Nadu was the top contributor with 33,764 cases, while Kerala reported 28,798 fresh cases.

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    Active cases decline to 24.19 lakh marking a reduction of over 75,000 on Wednesday. However, the country also recorded 3,847 deaths due to the infectious disease of which 1,013 deaths were reported from Maharashtra alone while Karnataka saw 530 deaths and Tamil Nadu 475. The official Covid death tally in India has now crossed 3.15 lakh mark.

    The recovery rate in India on May 3 was at 81.8% which went up to 85.6% on May 18 and at present, this rate is at 90%.

     “This is a positive indication,” said Lav Agarwal, joint secretary in the health ministry while urging that infected patients under home isolation and admitted in hospitals should be continuously monitored.

    In another good sign, after a continued slump in daily Covid vaccinations, vaccination figures too have improved and till 7 pm on Thursday, a  total of  26,58,218 vaccine doses were administered of which 24,81,196 beneficiaries were vaccinated for 1st dose and 1,77,022 beneficiaries received 2nd dose of vaccine as per the provisional reports.

    The cumulative vaccination coverage in India is now more than 20.54 crore, even though less than 4.5 % of the adult population in the country has completed two dose regimens of the vaccine yet.  

    Since the Covid vaccination drive was opened for the 18-44 year age group, 1,51,52,040 across 37 states in this category have received vaccines.

  • Eight districts of Uttarakhand report test positivity rate of over 20%

    Express News Service
    DEHRADUN: Amid raging second wave of Covid 19 pandemic, Uttarakhand’s eight out of 13 districts have recorded positivity rate of over 20% while 10 districts have recorded positivity rate of over 10% in last week April 28-May 4. 

    Highest positivity rate last week between April 28-May 4 was recorded in Nainital district with 28.6% followed by Rudraprayag (27.9%), Tehri (26.6%), Udham Singh Nagar (25.1%), Dehradun (25%), Pauri (24.6%), Chamoli (22.3%), Pithoragarh (20.8%), Uttarakashi (16.4%), Almora (14.8%), Champawat (14.4%), Bageshwar (12.8%) and Haridwar (6.8%).

    Average positivity rate of of the state stood 17.5% in the same duration. 

    Analysts say this is a worrisome trend as once Covid spreads to the remotest corners, the state will face loss of lives due to unavailability of healthcare in these regions.

    Anoop Nautiyal whose Social Development for Communities Foundation has been collating and analysing data since March 2020 when the first case surfaced said, “Such one-day case rise is a worrying sign. The spread should be checked by any means whatsoever. If the spread reaches to the remote hills where health infrastructure is in a shambles, loss of life will be monumental.”

    The hill state is facing an unprecedented surge in Covid cases in one day with 7783 fresh cases on Wednesday taking caseload to 59526.

    Uttarakhand has lost 3142 lives since the first case was detected in March 2020 in the state. Nainital district ranks second with 492 deaths while Dehradun tops the list with 1774 and Haridwar holds third rank with 285 deaths.