Bihar has reason to be hopeful about its management of the Covid-19 health crisis. With six deaths per million, it ranks best in this category. Kerala and Assam, with 10 deaths per million each, come next, according to government data released Tuesday.
Bihar’s test positivity rate was also the lowest at 0.9%, followed by Gujarat (1.8%) and Uttar Pradesh (4.3%) on September 8.
The growth rate of Covid-19 cases in Bihar is the lowest at 1.3% on par with Gujarat and Tamil Nadu, compared to a national average of 2.14% in the week ending 8 September.
Some other states like Maharashtra, Delhi, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu have some things to ponder.
With 10,343 cases per million, Delhi ranked highest, followed by Andhra Pradesh (9,363) and Maharashtra (7,500).
Delhi also ranked first in terms of Covid-19 deaths per million (246), followed by Maharashtra (219) and Tamil Nadu (102).
Bihar has been able to shed the ignominy of being the state with the lowest tests per million, a position it had held until early August, with the increase in testing facilities after July 27, when Pratyaya Amrit was appointed chief secretary. Bihar Health Department. Department.
On Monday, Bihar tested 1.53,156 lakh samples, the highest in a day so far, with the average daily test hovering around 1 lakh tests since Aug. 13. The increase in testing had led to a decrease in the positivity rate of his tests.
Most of the tests that were performed were rapid based on antigens, which had up to a 40% chance of giving false negative results.
The Center has already advised states to carry out mandatory RT-PCR tests on people symptomatic of Covid-19, testing negative in the rapid antigen kit. However, many states were not following this practice, neglecting the missing cases, said a senior health ministry official.
Bihar, for example, had tested reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) on just 6.55% (9,901) samples out of a total of 1,51,033 tested on September 5. Rapid antigen tests accounted for 1,36,870, while another 4,262 tests were performed on TrueNat machines.
The Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) had on May 19 revised its testing guidelines to allow the use of the TrueNat system for detection and confirmation of Covid-19. The test uses swab samples from a person’s nose or throat. The nucleic acid extracted from the sample must be followed by RT-PCR.
Unlike traditional RT-PCR tests, sample preparation in TrueNAT tests is automated and results are available in half an hour.
Only 3.11% (1,364) institutional beds were used of the total of 43,748 Covid-19 isolation beds available at different levels, while 14,401 patients were in home isolation according to government data from September 5.
Bihar’s case recovery rate was 88.98% compared to the national average of 77.65% on Tuesday. Health officials were unwilling to record.
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