India goes past China in Covid cases but with lower fatalities
NEWDELHI: The number of coronavirus disease (Covid-19) cases in India on Friday crossed the total count of infections in China, where the highly contagious disease originated late last year, even as experts pointed out that the outbreak has not been as deadly as in the neighbouring country at the same stage of transmissions.
The Covid-19 cases in the country rose to 85,709 on Friday, according to HT’s dashboard, with 2,680 people having died so far of the respiratory illness. China has so far reported 82,933 Covid-19 cases, 4,633 of whom have died of the disease. Just four states – Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Delhi – together account for two-thirds of India’s cases.
India’s fatality rate was 3.23%, compared to the global death rate of 6.92%; the recovery rate was 34.06%, according to the latest figures released by the Union health ministry.
Experts say that a national lockdown imposed in India on March 25 to slow the spread of the disease appeared to have been effective in slowing the infections. However, with the gradual easing of restrictions – necessitated by sluggish economic indicators – they expect the cases to rise in the coming days.
China imposed a 76-day lockdown earlier this year in Wuhan, the city where the Sars-CoV-2 pathogen is believed to have jumped to humans. The move proved to be effective, with no Covid-19 death being reported in official figures in the neighbouring country over the last 30 days.
“Lowering the fraction of the people who test positive is a better indicator of whether new infections have been controlled than the doubling rate, which is flawed as it also takes into account old and active cases. A low fraction of positives among people tested indicates falling infection (rates) because as testing increases, so do the number of people who test positive,” said Dr K Srinath Reddy, president, Public Health Foundation of India. The spread of Covid-19 has been slower in India than in China and other parts of the world, according to epidemiologists. “The health systems in states haven’t been overwhelmed; there are no sudden unexplained hospitalisations and deaths, as seen during dengue or encephalitis outbreaks. The data from China is less reliable. There’s far more transparency in India, where attempts by some governments such as West Bengal to juggle death numbers have been quickly exposed,” said Dr Ambarish Dutta, associate pro