As the second Covid-19 wave continues to ravage the country, India is recording 50 per cent of the global new cases and 30 per cent of deaths, a new analysis has revealed.
“On 1 May, India recorded 3,92,562 cases out of the day’s addition of 7,95,819 globally. India also recorded the highest daily deaths at 3,688, out of 12,882 globally, with 30% in global share,” according to a data analysis done by Organised Medicine Academic Guild (OMAG), an umbrella organisation of professional medical associations of post-graduate doctors.
However, despite this, India is ranked 114 in cumulative recorded cases per million population and 117 in cumulative deaths per million, among 220 countries globally, said Dr Ishwar Gilada, Secretary General, OMAG.
Pan-India, the highest number of deaths per million population was reported in Dehradun on May 1, at 41 per million, against the national average of just 2 per million.
Though Maharashtra has been number one all along in number of cases, it is 7th ranking state/UT in number of cases per million population and Goa, Delhi, Ladakh, Kerala, Lakshadweep, Puducherry are ahead of it. However, in per million cumulative deaths, Maharashtra is at rank three nationally.
In per million Covid cases, top five districts in India are Nagpur, Pune, Gurugram, Bengaluru and Leh. Surprisingly, Delhi is at 13th rank and Mumbai is at 15th rank.
In per million Covid deaths, top five districts in India are Nagpur, Mumbai, Pune, Dehradun and Yanam. Delhi is at 6th, Kolkata at 7th, Bengaluru at 12th, and Chennai at 15th rank. Upward jumps of Dehradun, Yanam, Kolkata and Chennai are due to elections.
The states with the highest speed with which the Covid daily numbers have grown as compared to 10th March are: Bihar (313 times), UP (250 times), Assam (157 times), Uttarakhand (152 times), Odisha (150 times). Maharashtra’s daily share increased by 4.6 times, from 13,659 cases reported on 10th March to 63,282 cases on 1 May. Several states have jumped up by 25 to 100 times in the same period.
In addition to B1.617 and B1.618, a new variant N440K, first isolated from Kurnool district of Andhra Pradesh, has been found to be at least 10 times more infectious, according to studies at Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), Hyderabad and Innovative Research (AcSIR), Ghaziabad.
“More so, this strain is found in 5 to 9% of new Covid patients from AP, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka and Maharashtra between January to April 2021. That explains high numbers in these four states,” Dr Gilada said.