Four states where Covid-19 cases are edging higher: Report

India's doubling average is 74 days while recovery rate is 6.1%

While the country’s daily coronavirus cases have consistently ticked down over the last few weeks, four states, namely, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and West Bengal have gone against the trend with cases rising faster and higher positivity rates, a Hindustan Times report said.

To calculate the trend of coronavirus cases, two factors are taken into account - doubling rate and recovery rate. The report shows data calculated from September 1 to October 1.

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The doubling rate is the number of days it takes for the total infections in the region to double. The longer it takes, the better it is as it means that the virus is not spreading fast.

Seven states have performed worse than the national doubling average which is 74 days. Despite almost containing the virus, Kerala performed badly with its Covid-19 cases doubling every 24 days, followed by Chhattisgarh at 37 days. Madhya Pradesh performed marginally better at 50 days, Rajasthan and Karnataka at 53 days, West Bengal at 57 days, and Odisha at 69 days.

Recovery rate, on the other hand, is the proportion of people testing positive to those tested. In this case, the lower the positivity rate of a state is the better it is faring.

Coronavirus India update: State-wise total number of confirmed cases, deaths on October 16

If a region registers a 5% positivity rate or below under a comprehensive testing programme for at least two weeks, only then the outbreak is said to be under control.

Kerala has performed the worst with an increase from 7.5% to 15.9% positivity rate from September 1 to October 15.

Maharashtra, which has consistently been reporting a high positivity rate over the last few months, saw a rise of 21.1% from 13.8% in the same time period.

Rajasthan followed Maharashtra with 11.3% from 6.1%. In Madhya Pradesh, the positivity rate reached 7.7% from 5.7% while West Bengal recorded an increase from 7% to 8.6%.

The country’s positivity rate is at 6.1% over the past week.