According to experts, the R-value, or reproductive number, for COVID-19 in India declined from 1.17 at the end of August to 0.92 in mid-September, indicating that the infection’s spread across the country has slowed.
However, certain big cities, including Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, and Bengaluru, have R-values of over 1. Delhi and Pune have R-values that are less than one. Maharashtra and Kerala have R-values below 1, providing much-needed relief to these two states with the most active cases.
At the end of August, the R-value was 1.17. It fell to 1.11 between September 4 and 7, and has remained below 1 since then.
“The good news is that India’s R has remained below 1, as has Kerala’s and Maharashtra’s, the two states with the most active cases,” Sitabhra Sinha of the Institute of Mathematical Sciences in Chennai said. Mr Sinha is the leader of a research team that calculates the R-value. According to the data, Mumbai’s R-value is 1.09, Chennai’s is 1.11, Kolkata’s is 1.04, and Bengaluru’s is 1.06.
The Reproduction number, or R, is the average number of people infected by a single sick person. In other terms, it indicates how a virus is spreading “effectively.”
The R-value began to fall after the devastating second wave, which saw hospitals and health facilities swamped by patients infected with the SARS-CoV2 coronavirus.
Thousands of individuals died as a result of the epidemic between March and May, and lakhs were infected.
Between March 9 and April 21, when the second wave of the coronavirus was at its peak, the R-value throughout the country was estimated to be 1.37. Between April 24 and May 1, it fell to 1.18, and again to 1.10 between April 29 and May 7.
The R-value was predicted to be around 0.98 between May 9 and 11, and then 0.82 between May 14 and May 30. From May 15 to June 26, the R-value was 0.78. From June 20 to July 7, however, it increased to 0.88.
Between September 4 and 7, the R-value was 0.94, 0.86 between September 11 and 15, and 0.92 between September 14 and 19.
According to the Ministry of Health, the recovery rate is currently at 97.75 percent. For the past 88 days, the weekly positivity rate (2.08 percent) has been less than 3%.
