The latest wave of Covid cases in the country appears to be on the wane with daily new cases down by more than half from its peak last month. However, mortality rate has remained high, with daily deaths having doubled from what it was in June.
After hitting a recent peak of 21,880 cases on 24-hours basis on July 21, daily new Covid cases reduced to 8,586 on August 22. The daily test positivity rate (TPR), a measure of prevalence of infection, dropped to 2.2 per cent from about 7 per cent a month ago. The daily tests hover in the range of 3.60 lakh to 4.10 lakh tests a day between July and August.
The daily deaths, though, on a lower base, have been on a higher side when compared with the earlier months. Against the 13 deaths on June 21, the count inched up to 45 on July 20 and 48 on August 22, indicating a sustained increase month-over-month.
Also read:The Daily Dose, August 23, 2022
The States reporting most of the deaths are Kerala, Karnataka and Delhi. Meanwhile, most of the new cases come from Karnataka, Maharashtra, Kerala, Delhi and Tamil Nadu, constituting about half of the total cases reported on Monday.
Notably, in Kerala, the daily TPR has dropped to 2.9 per cent against about 17 per cent early July. In Delhi, on the other hand, the TPR increased to 19.2 per cent by mid-August before falling to about 2 per cent on Monday.
The vaccination front
On the vaccination front, total vaccination has reached 210.55 crore doses, according to the Co-WIN dashboard data. This includes 102.38 crore of first dose and 94.03 crore of second dose. About 14.13 crore people have taken precaution dose, the data showed.
Among States, the most populous Uttar Pradesh has the largest number of people fully-vaccinated at 16.71 crore, followed by Maharashtra at 7.60 crore, West Bengal at 6.63 crore, Bihar at 6.56 crore and Madhya Pradesh at 5.88 crore.
Of the total vaccination, 112.33 crore doses have been administered in the age group of 18-44 years, followed by 45-60 years of age group, with 41.81 crore doses and 29.12 crore doses to 60 years and above.
Among the younger population, the adolescents in the age group of 12-14 years have been administered total 6.97 crore doses, and 15-17 years of age group has been given total 11.36 crore doses so far.