Covid cases plateauing in 13 states, says govt
As the second wave of coronavirus continues to engulf several parts of the country, the Centre on Monday said some states are showing very early signs of plateauing in daily Covid-19 cases, while some remain a cause of concern. Addressing a news briefing, joint secretary in the Union health ministry Lav Agarwal said 13 states, including Delhi, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra and Punjab, are showing early signs of plateauing, while states like Bihar, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Tripura and West Bengal are showing an increasing trend in daily cases.
NEW DELHI: The country is showing early signs of plateauing with new cases going down in certain parts, the centre said on Monday, even as at least 3,50,000 new Covid-19 cases are being reported each day, and currently there are 3.4 million active cases in the country.
“There is a relative signal of movement towards positive direction if trajectory of daily cases and deaths is analysed. On May 1 roughly about 400,000 new Covid-19 cases were reported from across the country, on May 2 it came down to 3,92,000 cases, and in past 24 hours (Sunday), we find 3,67,000 cases that shows there’s reduction in daily new cases to some extent cases,” said Lav Agarwal, joint secretary, Union health ministry, in the media briefing on Covid-19.
“We have found early signs of plateauing upon analyzing the Covid-19 data; In a state or two we can also say we have seen decrease in daily new cases. Among those states you find in Chhattisgarh that used to report 15,500 daily new cases, is now reporting around 14,900 new cases. Delhi, which used to get about 25,200 cases, now is getting 24,000 cases, hinting at early plateauing signs,” said Agarwal.
Agarwal also mentioned states such as Madhya Pradesh that recently reported 12,800 as opposed to 13,000 cases earlier, Maharashtra that reported a peak number of 65,000 new cases , but now has come down to 62,000 cases.
Experts say it is too early to use this as a trend.
“You cannot establish a trend by looking at 48-72 hours data. This could be an aberration, and needs to sustain for a few weeks before something can be declared concretely,” said a public health expert, requesting anonymity.