Karnataka sees steepest fall in active Covid-19 cases

Karnataka recorded the steepest decline in the number of active Covid-19 cases in the last one month followed by Maharashtra, while north-west India saw a marginal rise in such cases during the same period.

On October 29, there were 68,180 active cases in Karnataka, but the number fell to 24,770 on November 29 — a drop of 43,410 active cases within 30 days, said the Union Health Ministry on Monday.

“It is important to improve the testing strategy," Giridhar Babu, a senior epidemiologist at the Public Health Foundation of India, told DH.

"Even when the state was under increased scrutiny for reporting more cases, Karnataka not only increased the number of tests during the surge but also was among the foremost states in using the syndromic approach for the review of district performance."

Babu said this enabled the state to curb the transmission by isolating the symptomatic who can spread the infection to more people.

“Karnataka’s success has also been possible due to the success in Bengaluru, which saw a series of reforms and enhanced testing. Moving forward, the state conducted a statewide survey whose findings were used to implement future interventions,” said Babu.

The number of active cases also fell in Maharashtra by more than 39,000 within a month. Similarly, the number of active cases declined by nearly 28,500 in Kerala and in excess of 15,000 in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.

Such a trend seems to suggest that the pandemic is in retreat in south India, which was the driving factor in the spread of Covid-19 not so long ago.

But there is a rise in the number of active cases in north-western states like Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh as well as Madhya Pradesh in the same period, albeit on a smaller scale. The maximum rise was seen in Rajasthan (by 13,043) followed by Haryana (8,902) and Delhi (7,200).

Modi reviews vaccine situation

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday reviewed the progress of indigenous vaccine development undertaken by Gennova Biopharma of Pune and Biological E and Dr Reddy’s Laboratories in Hyderabad. The last one is responsible for the clinical trial and distribution of Russian Sputnik V vaccine.

The Prime Minister asked the companies to come out with their suggestions and ideas on the regulatory processes and suggested that they should take extra efforts to inform the general public about the vaccine and its efficacy.