Fatality rate dips amid rising cases & deaths

Fatality rate dips amid rising cases & deaths

Sushmi.Dey@timesgroup.com

New Delhi:02.06.2020

With a larger proportion of Covid-19 patients recovering, the case fatality rate, or the percentage of deaths of the total cases, has declined steadily to 2.83% from 3.3% around 45 days ago, even as the health ministry recorded the biggest singleday spike so far with 230 new deaths and 8,392 fresh cases till 8am on Monday.

The death toll due to Covid-19 rose to 5,394 and the number of cases have climbed to 1,90,535 in the country. Of the total cases, 93,322 are under active medical supervision, whereas 91,818 patients are rid of the disease. In last 24 hours, 4,835 people who underwent Covid-19 treatment were discharged.

“The recovery rate in the country is progressively increasing and has reached 48.19% amongst Covid-19 patients. On May 18, it was 38.29%, on May 3, it was 26.59% and on April 15, it was 11.42%,” the health ministry said. The recovery rate is significant as it indicates timely detection and treatment, adequate medical infrastructure and clinical protocols.

Variations remain from state to state, but the overall picture now shows the case fatality rate at 2.83%. On May 18, it was 3.15% and on May 3, it was 3.25%.

‘Govt strategy is to widen testing, ensure patients recover’

“A steady decline can be seen in the case fatality rate in the country. The relatively low death rate is attributed to the continued focus on surveillance, timely case identification and clinical management of the cases,” the ministry said.

Officials said cases were expected to rise as migrant workers return home and the lockdown eases. The focus of the government strategy is to widen testing and ensure patients recover. The rise in cases continues to be influenced by

states like Maharashtra and Delhi though there is increased incidence in several other states too. As long as the fresh cases do not become a torrent, the case load can be managed, it is felt.

Comparing India’s case fatality rate with other countries with high number of deaths, the ministry said the global case fatality rate was 6.19%. It was highest in France at 19.35%, followed by Belgium at 16.25%, Italy at 14.33% and the UK at14.07%.

It also said the testing capacity had increased in the country through 676 laboratories, including 472 government and 204 private ones. Cumulatively, 38,37,207 samples have been tested so far, whereas 1,00,180 samples were tested on Sunday.

Officials said cases were expected to rise as migrant workers return home and the lockdown eases