17.8.20

India: Covid-19 toll hits 50,000 in 156 days

Fewer patients are dying in India from Covid-19 compared to the rest of the world as the fatality rate continues to decline, touching 1.9% , health ministry said even as deaths due to the disease have crossed 50,000.

“USA crossed 50,000 deaths in 23 days, Brazil in 95 days and Mexico in 141 days. India took 156 days to reach this national figure,” the ministry said, underlining what it said is a sustained focus on effective clinical management of positive cases.

Apart from effective treatment in hospitals, measures like supervised home isolation, use of non-invasive oxygen support and improved services of ambulances for ferrying patients for prompt and timely treatment have helped keep the fatality rate in check, officials said.

“Tireless efforts of ASHA workers have ensured effective surveillance and tracking progress of patients in supervised home isolation. Clinical management skills of doctors treating Covid-19 patients have been upgraded by active technical guidance through tele-consultation sessions by domain knowledge experts from AIIMS, New Delhi,” an official said.

Data from John Hopkins University shows case fatality rate in other countries in cluding Italy (14%), Mexico (10.9%), Iran (5.7%), Indonesia (4.4%) , Brazil (3.2%), US (3.2%) and Chile (2.7%) as much higher than of India. While death rate due to Covid-19 has witnessed a steady decline from 3.3% in mid-June to below 2% in mid- August, the recovery rate is also rising constantly to reach 72% as over 18.6 lakh patients have recovered.

A total of 53,322 patients recuperated and were discharged in a span of 24 hours. “The steady rise in recoveries has ensured that the percentage caseload of the country is reducing,” the ministry said. There are 6,77,444 active cases recorded as of Sunday, accounting for 25.1% of total cases so far.With efficient and aggressive testing, India is rapidly moving towards completing 3 crore tests, according to the ministry. On Sunday, India’s Covid-19 tally increased to 25,89,682 with a single day spike of 63,490 infections.

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