Are Covid Deaths in India Rising at A Faster Rate than New Cases? Here’s What Latest Govt Data Shows

With 18,313 fresh cases reported in a day, India’s Covid-19 tally rose to 4,39,38,764, even as the count of active cases dropped to 1,45,026, the union health ministry said on Wednesday.

The death toll due to the disease climbed up to 5,26,110 with 57 more fatalities (including older ones not counted earlier), according to the ministry’s data updated at 8 am.

What appears significant though is that while active cases have fallen in India for the third consecutive day, deaths connected to Covid continue to rise.

The 7-day moving average of deaths in the country is now 49. In mid-June, it was just 10.

In comparison, the 7-day moving average of new cases during the same period has increased from 9,353 to 19,306. So Covid deaths in the country appear to be rising at a faster rate than new cases.

Of the 57 fatalities recorded in the 24-hour period, 19 were from Kerala, 12 from Maharashtra, seven from West Bengal, four from Meghalaya, two each from Bihar, Delhi, and Odisha, and one each was reported from Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Nagaland, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, and Chandigarh.

The active cases account for 0.34 per cent of the total caseload, while the national Covid-19 recovery rate is at 98.47 per cent, said the ministry. A decline of 2,486 cases was recorded in the active Covid caseload in a span of 24 hours, it added.

The daily positivity rate was recorded at 4.31 per cent and the weekly positivity rate at 4.57 per cent, the data shows. A total of 87.36 crore Covid tests have been conducted in the country so far, including 4,25,337 in the last 24 hours.

The number of people who have recuperated from the disease has gone up to 4,32,67,571, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.2 per cent, the data showed. According to the ministry, 202.79 crore vaccine doses have so far been administered under the nationwide Covid-19 vaccination drive.

India’s Covid case tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 2020, 30 lakh on August 23, 2020, 40 lakh on September 5, 2020, 50 lakh on September 16, 2020, 60 lakh on September 28, 2020, 70 lakh on October 11, 2020, 80 lakh on October 29, 2020, 90 lakh on November 20, 2020, and the one-crore mark on December 19, 2020.

The country went past the grim milestone of two crore Covid cases on May 4, 2021, the three-crore mark on June 23, 2021, and four crore cases on January 25 this year.

(With agency inputs)

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