India’s Covid-19 tally nears 9.4 million
INDIA’S COVID-19 caseload inched closer to the 9.4-million mark, while the number of people who have recuperated from the disease crossed 8.8 million pushing the national recovery rate to 93.71 per cent, according to the country’s health ministry data on Sunday.
The total coronavirus cases mounted to 93,92,919 with 41,810 new infections being reported in a day, while the death toll climbed to 1,36,696 with 496 new fatalities, the data updated at 8 am showed.
The active Covid-19 caseload remained below half million for the 19th consecutive day. There are 4,53,956 active coronavirus infections in the country which comprises 4.83 percent of the total caseload, the data stated.
The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 88,02,267 pushing the national recovery rate to 93.71 per cent, while the COVID-19 case fatality rate stands at 1.46 percent.
India’s Covid-19 tally had crossed the two million mark on August 7, three million mark on August 23 and four million mark on September 5. It went past half a million on September 16, six million on September 28, seven million on October 11, crossed eight million on October 29, and surpassed nine million mark on November 20.
According to the ICMR, over 139.5 million samples have been tested up to November 28 with 12,83,449 samples being tested on Saturday.
The 496 new fatalities include 89 from Delhi, 88 from Maharashtra 52 from West Bengal, 30 from Haryana, 28 from Punjab, 25 from Kerala and 21 from Uttar Pradesh.
A total of 1,36,696 deaths have been reported so far in the country including 46,986 from Maharashtra followed by 11,750 from Karnataka, 11,694 from Tamil Nadu, 8,998 from Delhi, 8,322 from West Bengal, 7,718 from Uttar Pradesh, 6,981 from Andhra Pradesh, 4,765 from Punjab, 3,953 from Gujarat and 3,237 from Madhya Pradesh. The health ministry stressed that more than 70 per cent of the deaths occurred due to comorbidities.
‘Our figures are being reconciled with the Indian Council of Medical Research,’ the ministry said on its website, adding that state-wise distribution of figures is subject to further verification and reconciliation.
Meanwhile, the contraction of the Indian economy eased off in the three months to September amid signs of a pick up in manufacturing, and economists expect a steady recovery next year if progress on coronavirus vaccines feeds consumer demand.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whose party won elections this month in the eastern state of Bihar, expects the recent easing of farm and labour laws, along with tax incentives, to bolster manufacturing and lure more foreign investment.
India’s gross domestic product in July-September quarter contracted 7.5 percent on year, data released by the National Statistical Office on Friday showed, compared to a decline of 23.9 percent in the previous three months.
Annual growth of 3.4 percent in farm sector and 0.6 percent in manufacturing during September quarter raised hopes of an early recovery as the government gears up to distribute coranavirus vaccines to a country with about 1.4 billion people.
‘The Q2 GDP numbers are encouraging,’ said Krishnamurthy Subramanian, chief economic adviser at the ministry of finance, after the release of the data.
Citing growth in manufacturing and farm sectors, he said there were signs of a ‘V’shaped recovery helped by a pick up in demand for consumer and investment goods.
‘Overall, while the recovery provides optimism, caution on the pandemic and therefore on the economy is still warranted.’
Consumer spending - the main driver of the economy - dropped 11.3 percent year-onyear in July-September compared to a revised 26.7 percent fall in the previous quarter, data showed, while capital investments were down 7.3 percent compared to a 47.1 percent fall in the previous quarter.
The Reserve Bank of India, which has slashed its benchmark repo rate by a total of 115 basis points since March to cushion the shock from the crisis, is expected to keep rates on hold at its policy review meeting next week due to growing concerns about inflation.
India - the world’s fastest-growing major economy until a few years ago - now looks to be headed for its first full-year contraction this fiscal year since 1979, according to a Reuters poll which predicted gross domestic product would take over a year to return to pre-Covid-19 levels.
Private economists, who have marginally raised growth forecasts this month, said the recovery would depend on the wider distribution of vaccines amid risks of a second wave of infections spreading to remote areas limiting the broader gains. Businesses fear new restrictions imposed by some states this week could delay a recovery while consumer demand could slowdown after the festivals.
India’s tally of Covid-19 infections crossed 9.3 million to stand as the world’s second highest after the United States, with 135,715 deaths in the south Asian nation.
‘The resurgence of COVID cases in many geographies poses a risk to economic revival in the coming quarters,’ said Anagha Deodhar, economist at ICICI Securities, Mumbai.
Deodhar like many other economists expected growth to remain negative in the December quarter and post a small positive growth in March quarter.