Although mobility is down now, fears of a second wave have already strengthened. In the past seven days, active coronavirus cases increased 24% in Madhya Pradesh and 21% in Rajasthan, according to seven-day moving averages. In Gujarat, the number increased by 9%.
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In absolute numbers, the highest jump in active cases (4,123) was recorded in Maharashtra, a sharp turn for a state where the number had been declining every week until as recently as Diwali.
Active cases is the number of patients with covid-19 who have not yet tested negative. Most states had been reporting a decrease in this count since late September, easing pressure on healthcare systems. But a change in this trend means that new patients again outnumber those who are recovering.
Delhi continued to record the majority of covid-related deaths. The city’s death toll rose 8% in one week, with 622 deaths accounting for nearly a fifth of all deaths in India. But the biggest increase (9%) came from Haryana, where nearly 200 people died in a week. In Kerala, the toll increased by 9%.
With this, the total death toll in India has reached 138,648, almost 5% more than last week.
As relaxed restrictions encouraged tourists to venture, new outbreaks have forced the mountainous states of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand to issue new restrictions. Active cases increased more than 15% in both states. Himachal Pradesh closed Lahaul-Spiti for tourists until April after an entire village became infected with the coronavirus, while Uttarakhand made testing for the coronavirus mandatory for tourists.
Rajasthan has imposed a blockade on containment zones and a night curfew in 13 districts.
After an interval of a few weeks, Kerala and Maharashtra again contributed more new coronavirus cases than Delhi. Both registered more than 36,000 cases each in the last week, which was 27% of all cases in India in the period. Delhi had a 12% stake.
Overall, India added nearly 272,000 cases in total, bringing the total to 9,534,964.
All weekly trends are based on seven-day moving averages to minimize the effect of volatile and lagging reports. National and state data are obtained from the Union Ministry of Health.
Among the 328 districts with more than 5,000 confirmed cases so far, Himachal Pradesh’s capital Shimla (26%) posted the worst increase over the past week, data from howindialives.com shows. Three other Himachal Pradesh districts also featured at the top, with each reporting a massive jump this week: 17% each in Kangra and Mandi, and 11% in Solan.
Shimla and Kangra also led in deaths, with their tolls increasing by about 22% in just one week.
In the past fortnight, the positivity rate has increased marginally in Delhi, Kerala and Rajasthan, data from covid19india.org showed. The high tests show that Delhi and Kerala are making efforts to find the infected, but an increase in positivity shows that even that may not be enough.
Rajasthan and West Bengal have the lowest test rates. With the outbreak intensifying in Rajasthan, the state will need to test more people to control the spread.
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Globally, the United States continues to add the most new coronavirus cases – nearly 28% of all cases in the last week. India and Brazil contributed 7% each. India’s share has improved significantly, reporting nearly a third of all the world’s daily cases in September.
Among the new deaths reported in the last week, the US had a 16% share. Italy, which had previously contained the pandemic, is once again among the most affected countries. The country contributed to almost 7% of the new deaths.
The global COVID count has passed 64 million, including 1.5 million deaths, data from Johns Hopkins University showed.
Horrifying numbers aside, the biggest covid-related news of the week was the UK’s decision to start rolling out the Pfizer vaccine soon. The country has ordered enough doses for 20 million people. But the Indians still have a long wait for the jab, they must guard against complacency in the wake of this positive development. There are still months until the end of the fight.
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