India adds 10L cases in 20 days; tally rises to 20 lakh
Reports highest ever caseload of 64,680 in 24 hrs
India became the third country in the world to have the unenviable record of having 20 lakh (two million) Coronavirus infections. The country on Thursday reported 64,680 new Covid-19 cases, the highest ever, taking the total caseload to 20,24,702.
India which crossed 10 lakh mark (one million) on July 17 witnessed the cases doubling in just 20 days — reporting on an average five per cent increase in new cases every day in this period.
The spurt in new infections was seen mainly because of states like Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar reporting higher numbers. The disease, which was mostly an urban phenomenon in the initial days, has spread to the hinterland after guest
workers moved back to their villages or hometowns. India had registered one lakh cases on
May 18, 108 days after the first case was reported on January 30, with a daily average of 925 cases. It took just 15 days for the infections to double to
2,07,082 on June 2, registering an average 7,139 cases or posting an average of
7.13 per cent growth a day. The cases doubled in another 18 days from two to four lakh on June 20, adding an average 11,111 cases or 5.55 per cent growth each day. The number further increased by 100 per cent to eight lakh cases from the fourlakh figure in 22 days on July 11, showing an average rise of 4.5 per cent a day.
Compared to India, the Coronavirus cases have doubled globally in 41 days — from 95 lakh cases on June 26 to 1.9 crore on August 6. The number of Covid-19 patients increased at the rate of 2.43 per cent in this period. On Wednesday, 2,71,325 cases were recorded globally. Of this, India’s contribution was 56,626 or 20 per cent.
The spread of infection, however, appears to have slowed down in most parts of the world. The top three countries in terms of caseload — the United States, Brazil and India — are contributing 61 per cent of new cases, while the rest of 210 countries or territories reporting the rest.
The saving grace is the falling death rate. Data available on worldmeters.info shows that the death rate is gradually declining in spite of a steady rise in infections.
In the first phase when the Covid-19 disease hit China, the death rate was at 41 per cent. The recoveries improved and death rate declined after China imposed a strict lockdown and controlled the spread.
The global death rate rose to 21 per cent when the Covid-19 pandemic reached the shores of an unprepared Europe. Relatively better understanding of the disease and treatment protocols brought down the death rate to 5.52 per cent. The global recovery rate is over 94 per cent.
As per official numbers, the death rate in India is one of the lowest at 2.09 per cent — occupying 108th place in a list that ranks countries for Coronavirus cases in descending order.
Countries like Yemen, France, the UK, Italy, Belgium, Hungary, the Netherlands, Mexico, which bore brunt of the deadly disease in the initial days had reported over 10 per cent death rate.
● IN THE first phase when the Covid-19 disease hit China, the death rate was at 41 per cent. The recoveries improved and death rate declined after China imposed a strict lockdown and controlled the spread.