In see-saw coronavirus battle, no new cases in 47 districts

Is the COVID-19 tide turning in some places? The Health Ministry on Saturday said a positive trend had emerged in 47 districts across 23 states as not even a single case of Covid-19 was reported in the past 14 days.

However, the fleeting nature of the disease-free status was evident in the districts of Patna in Bihar, Panipat in Haryana and Nadia in Bengal.

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Panipat and Patna had not reported virus infection for the last 14 days, while Nadia was in the list of “disease-free’ districts. But all three reported fresh cases of the virus that has claimed 518 lives across the country and infected over 15,000 people.

“It is a day-to-day battle. We have to maintain continuous vigil,” said Lav Agarwal, Joint Secretary, Health Ministry.

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He said the field-level action taken by health authorities was yielding positive results. “Along with Mahe in Puducherry, Kodagu in Karnataka has not registered any new case in the last 28 days. Besides this, 45 other districts in 23 states have not registered any new case in the last 14 days,” he said.

According to Agarwal, the overall Covid-19 mortality rate in India was 3.3%. However, an age-wise analysis of those who have succumbed to the disease showed that the elderly with co-morbid conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, heart ailments were more susceptible to the illness.

“More than 75% of the mortalities were in the age group of 60 years and above,” he said.

The highest mortality rate of 42.2% was in the 75 years and above age group, followed by 33.1% in the 60-75 years age group, 14.4% from the population up to 45 years of age and 10.3% from the 45-60 years age group.

Agarwal said 83% of the total fatalities also had co-morbid conditions.

Of the total confirmed cases in India, 4,291 infections were linked to Nizamuddin Markaz cluster, which roughly amounts to 30% of the patients across the country.

In Tamil Nadu, 84% cases of Covid-19 were linked to the Markaz followed by Telangana (79%), Delhi (63%), Andhra Pradesh (61%) and Uttar Pradesh (59%).