India Added 23 Lakh Covid Cases In September, Mumbai Saw 101% Spike

India added 23 lakh fresh coronavirus cases or 40 per cent of the country's current COVID-19 tally in the month of September alone, data released by state and central governments showed. The month also saw one third of the Covid-related deaths reported since the pandemic began.

Maharashtra - one of the worst-hit state with 13 lakh cases -- accounted for nearly a quarter of the new daily cases, with state capital Mumbai reporting a 101 per cent rise in Covid cases in September compared to August. The financial capital is also reporting a mortality rate of 4.38% in comparison to the national mortality rate of 1.57%.

Between September 1 to 28th, the city added 53,828 new cases, which was a rise of 101 per cent during the same period in the month of August when it reported 26,753 fresh cases.

"We have seen an increase in cases in September. In comparison to August, 30 per cent more cases have been admitted in September. At the rate that cases in the city have risen by 104 per cent, we can say that Mumbai is in its second wave," Dr. Farha Ingle of Hirandani Hospital told NDTV.

The data from the southern states is not encouraging either.

Kerala, which received much praise for its handling of the initial phases of the pandemic, has seen a steep increase in COVID-19 cases in the month of September. The southern state now has the highest percentage increase in India with 13 people testing positive for every 100 tested.

State capital Thiruvananthapuram reported a 71 per cent jump in daily active cases in September as compared to August.

The state had reported around 1,96,000 on September 30 in comparison to 73,800 at the end of August. Amid the rising cases, the state government has tried to allay fears on lack of medical infrastructure with state ministers emphasizing that the state has enough beds, ventilators and oxygen cylinders in place.

The situation remains grim in neighbouring Karnataka, where its capital city Bengaluru added 97,605 cases in September - up from 74,696 cases in August. The IT capital is the second city after Delhi in terms of case numbers. The death rate is 1.26 per cent, lower than the national average.

But some parts of the country showed a lower percentage increase in September compared to preceding months.

Andhra Pradesh- which has reported 2.58 lakh cases so far - witnessed a 45 per cent increase in the month of September, the lowest growth rate by far for any 30-day period in a state which has been reporting the second highest Covid numbers after Maharashtra.

The state witnessed a 300 per cent surge in infections in August, 900 per cent increase in July and over 300 per cent increase in June.

In the last one month, Andhra Pradesh has also reported a nearly 30 per cent decrease in case positivity rate and deaths. The state reported 6,000-8,000 in September as against 10,000 daily infections in August.

Bengal added 94,971 new cases in the month of September, which was just 1,681 ( just 1.81 per cent) more than the August when the state reported 92,590 cases.

However, testing seems to have come down over the last two weeks of September even though month on month, testing numbers have increased.

Officials also confirm that 55 per cent of the tests are RAT and 45 per cent RTPCR.

West Bengal featured at fifth position in terms of fatalties in September. The state government, however, said that there was no notable difference in the Covid deaths in August and September. A bulk of the fatalities in the state were reported in June and July, as per the data.

This morning, India added 81,484 new cases  in the last 24 hours, taking its tally near 64-lakh mark, data released by the Health Ministry showed.

The country, however, has been reporting high level of recoveries, helping it maintain its global position as the country with the maximum number of recovered COVID-19 patients, the government said.