Covid-19 case trajectory shows 2nd wave is ebbing

NEW DELHI: While the second wave of the Covid-19 outbreak continued to burden India’s health care system, with the total number of confirmed infections in the country closing in on 25 million on Monday, the trajectory of new infections for the entire country appeared to show signs of receding from a peak over the past week, according to data.

For the first time since the start of the second wave, the number of active cases in the country began inching down – a crucial development as the onslaught of the second wave was marked by a soaring number of active cases, which resulted in shortages of vital supplies such as medical oxygen, life-saving drugs, hospital beds and ambulance services.

A total of 281,386 new cases were reported in the 24 hours to Monday, the lowest in 27 days, taking the total number of infections in the country since the start of the outbreak to 24,965,463, according to the Union health ministry data.

In the past week, there have been 328,947 new infections every day across the country on average; a week ago, this number was 391,819, the highest ever recorded and what appeared to be the peak of the second wave. This means that the rate of new