COVID-19 Cases in India: The average death rate has been around 1.5 per cent since the peak in September
With a jump of 36,370 fresh COVID-19 cases in a day India reported the lowest number of new coronavirus infections in the country since mid-July, taking its tally to 79.46 lakh, government data shows. July 18 was the last time India reported less than 36,000 cases. Continuing with the downward trend in cases, India recorded an average of 55,000 daily Covid cases last week, against the weekly average of 90,000 during the peak in September, data shows. The weekly average of one-day tally has since dropped consistently and sharply, from about 80,000 in early October to 45,000 now.
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According to the Health Ministry data, some 488 people died because of the coronavirus disease in the last 24 hours, taking the total death count to 1,19,502.
The Covid fatality rate has remained about 1.5 per cent since September. The Health Ministry now aims to achieve a rate of less than 1 per cent and sustain it.
Among the 14 states and Union Territories demonstrating a less-than 1 per cent Covid fatality rate is Kerala at 0.34 per cent.
The state has crossed Maharashtra as the state with highest daily cases. Kerala recorded 4,287 new coronavirus cases, followed by West Bengal (4,121), Karnataka (4,130), Maharashtra (3,645) and Delhi (2,832). The last time Maharashtra recorded less than 4,000 cases was in June.
However, Maharashtra continued to report the highest number of daily deaths - 85 - with a higher-than-national-average fatality rate of 2.63 per cent. The state was followed by West Bengal (59), Delhi (54), Chhattisgarh (43), and Karnataka (42).
At 6,25,857, total active coronavirus cases in India now account for about 8 per cent of the tally, pushing its recovery rate past the 90 per cent mark with more than 72 lakh discharged patients. Number of recovered patients was almost double the number of fresh infections.
The government has been testing an average of 8-9 lakh people in the country every day for the past month, data shows.
Despite the encouraging trend amid the festival season, experts have warned against crowding with a report published in The Lancet saying that a ban on public events can bring down the COVID-19 reproduction number (R) - a key measure of virus transmission - by 24 per cent in less than a month.
India remains the second most affected country by the pandemic as infections see a resurgence in the US - the worst-hit nation with at least 87 lakh cases and 2.25 lakh deaths - and some European countries, including Spain and France.
As the world races to find a vaccine to halt the spread of coronavirus, trials of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine - expected to be one of the first from big pharma to secure regulatory approval - show its triggers lower adverse responses among the elderly, British drug maker has said.
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