Bihar emerging as new Covid-19 hotspot, Karnataka third in daily new cases

India’s Covid-19 numbers have been galloping after crossing the 10 lakh mark as new patients were being reported from across the country at rising speed with Bihar emerging as the latest hotspot adding in excess of 1800 cases every day.

The fresh spurt of cases in Karnataka has pushed the state to the third position in the list of states reporting highest cases every day, while Delhi which occupied the spot earlier witnessed a steady decline in new infections.

Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu continued to lead the states reporting maximum new infections every day. On Saturday, Maharashtra reported 8,348 new cases and crossed the three lakh mark. Pune has been rivaling Mumbai in adding new cases every day and on some days exceeding the daily infections reported in the country’s financial capital.

Tamil Nadu added 4,807 new cases on Saturday followed by Andhra Pradesh (3,963), Uttar Pradesh (1,873), Bihar (1,667), and Assam (1,218). West Bengal and Telangana too have been reporting a high caseload.

States such as Goa, Chhatisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and Himachal were also reporting new infections at a rising speed.

A DH Covid-19 Tracker put the total number of cases 10,73,295 at 8:30 p.m. on Saturday, an intra-day increase of 34,226. Of these 10.73 lakh cases, 6.73 lakh had been discharged from healthcare facilities, while 3.72 lakh were under active medical supervision.

According to a study by researchers in the India office of an NGO, Population Council, eight districts in Bihar rank among the most vulnerable to the health and economic impacts of Covid-19.

Researchers have created a vulnerability index that has identified Madhya Pradesh as the most vulnerable among 30 states assessed. Karnataka ranks 15th on the index with states such as Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh ranked lower.

None of the districts in Karnataka find a mention on the top 20 most vulnerable districts.

The study, published in The Lancet, noted that nine of 30 large states – Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Telangana, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Odisha, and Gujarat – were highly vulnerable to Covid-19 impact.

It rated the vulnerabilities of states to the pandemic on a scale from zero to one, measured using 15 indicators across five domains — socioeconomic, demographic, housing and hygiene, epidemiological, and health systems.

“Our index aims to help planners and policymakers effectively prioritise regions for resource allocation and adopt risk mitigation strategies for better preparedness and responses to the Covid-19 epidemic,” Rajib Acharya from Population Council, New Delhi, said.