Covid-19 R-value drops below 1 in mid-September: Mumbai, Calcutta, Chennai, Bengaluru still vulnerable

Major cities like Mumbai, Calcutta, Chennai, Bengaluru still at risk

The R-values of Maharashtra and Kerala are below 1, giving a much needed relief to these two states with the highest number of active cases.: File picture

TT Bureau, PTI   |   New Delhi   |  21.09.21 : R-value, which reflects how rapidly coronavirus pandemic is spreading, dropped to 0.92 by mid-September after spiralling over 1 by August-end, according to researchers.

However, the R-values of major cities, Mumbai, Calcutta, Chennai, Bengaluru, are over 1. The R-value of Delhi and Pune are below 1.

The R-values of Maharashtra and Kerala are below 1, giving a much needed relief to these two states with the highest number of active cases.

The R-value was 1.17 by the end of August. It declined to 1.11 between September 4-7 and since then it has remained under 1.

"The good news is that India's R has continued to be less than 1, as is that of Kerala and Maharashtra, the two states having the highest number of active cases," said Sitabhra Sinha of the Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Chennai.

Sinha is leading a team of researchers who calculate the R-value.

According to the data, the R-value of Mumbai stands at 1.09, Chennai 1.11, Calcutta 1.04, Bengaluru 1.06.

The Reproduction number or R refers to how many people an infected person infects on average. In other words, it tells how 'efficiently' a virus is spreading.

After the devastating second wave that saw hospitals and health infrastructure being overwhelmed by the patients infected with SARS-CoV2 coronavirus, the R-value started to decline.

During the March-May period, thousands of people died due to the infection, while lakhs were infected.

The R-value value between September 4-7 was 0.94, 0.86 between September 11-15 and 0.92 between September 14-19.

Meanwhile, India added 26,115 new cases of coronavirus infection in a single day taking the total tally to 3,35,04,534, while the active cases declined to 3,09,575, the lowest in 184 days, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Tuesday.

The active cases comprise 0.92 per cent of the total infections, the lowest since March 2020, the ministry said, adding the national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 97.75 per cent.

A reduction of 8,606 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours.

As many as 14,13,951 tests were conducted on Monday taking the total cumulative tests conducted so far for detection of COVID-19 in the country to 55,50,35,717.

The daily positivity rate was recorded at 1.85 per cent. It has been less than three per cent for last 22 days. The weekly positivity rate was recorded at 2.08 per cent. It has been below three per cent for the last 88 days, it said.

The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 3,27,49,574, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.33 per cent.

The 252 fresh fatalities include 92 from Kerala, 31 from Punjab and 28 from Maharashtra.

The cumulative doses administered in the country so far under the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive has exceeded 81.85 crore with 96.46 lakh doses being given on Monday.