Silver lining as Covid-19 recoveries see big spike

DATA India’s fatality rate dips while recoveries accelerate, 51,845 reported on Saturday

NEWDELHI: The number of people who have recovered from Covid-19 in India crossed the 1.1 million mark over the weekend when over 90,000 people were declared free of the virus, the highest numbers recorded yet over two days in what is being seen as a sign of the country’s disease mitigation strategy being effective in avoiding a high number of fatalities.

HT’S dashboard of Covid-19 data from across the country showed that 51,845 recovered on Saturday and 40,449 recovered on Sunday, bringing the proportion of recoveries to 65.76%. As on Sunday, of the 1,803,267 infections in all, 38,159 people have succumbed to the viral disease, translating to a case fatality ratio (CFR) of 2.12%. As of Sunday night, the doubling rate of cases – the number of days it takes for infections to double – across the country is 21.2 days.

Coordinated implementation of “effective containment strategy, aggressive testing and standardised clinical management protocols” resulted in a consistent trend of rising recovery rate and progressively reducing CFR, said a statement by the Union health ministry on Sunday.

The trends indicate India’s response to the pandemic is “improving at various levels of care including at the societal level as well as in hospitals,” said Niti Aayog member VK Paul, who heads the national task force on Covid.

“It suggests that we have learnt to take care of our positive cases; we have learnt how soon to act and what works and what doesn’t. We are able to provide more organised and systematic treatment clinically.

Those involved in Covid-19 management are learning by the day by reading and from each other,” Paul added.

To be sure, India’s recovery rate is expected to eventually soar to over 90% — since current trends indicate the final fatality rate could lie between 2-3% — once the outbreak nears its end.