India’s COVID-19 Recovery Rate Further Climbs To 62.2 Per Cent, Mortality Rate Is Just 2.72 Per Cent: Health Minister Harsh Vardhan

New Delhi: As India sees no respite in the increase in cases of coronavirus on a daily basis, the government sees a silver lining in the recovery rate of the country as it shows an increasing trend. According to the data shared by the Ministry of Health and Family Affairs on Thursday (July 9), the last 24 hours saw a total of 19,138 COVID-19 patients getting cured, taking the cumulative figure of recovered cases among COVID-19 patients to 4,95,515. Moreover, the national recovery rate further climbed up to 62.42 per cent. Talking about the progressive improvement in battling with coronavirus crisis, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Friday (July 10) said,

Recovery rate among COVID-19 patients stands at about 62.42 per cent, the mortality rate is just 2.72 per cent. We are not concerned about the number of cases. We are ramping up testing so that maximum cases can be detected and treated.

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Health Minister Harsh Vardhan further added that around 2.7 lakh tests are being done daily and said,

Despite being such a large country, we have not reached the community transmission stage of COVID-19. Though there are some small pockets where there could be slightly higher transmission locally.

The health ministry has also listed 18 states/UTs where the recovery rate is more than the national average, the states are:

The health ministry further said that India’s fatality rate as compared to other countries in the world is less. Stressing on the COVID-19 management in the country, the official statement from the health ministry said,

The focus of COVID-19 management in the country has been to keep the fatalities low and the focus has been on the high-risk group like the elderly/aged and population with co-morbidities, to provide special care to them. There is a focus on the improvement of the quality of medical care of COVID patients. The country-wide strong network of Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHAs) and Auxiliary Nurse Midwife (ANMs) along with Ayushman Bharat – Health and Wellness Centres have helped in effective surveillance and contact tracing of the cases, including the lakhs of migrants and returnees. As a result, there are 30 states/UTs which have a fatality rate lower than the national average.

The list is as follows:

The health ministry also said that the nationwide implementation of Test Track and Treat strategy has led to 1,10,24,491 samples tested for COVID-19 identification till date, moreover the tests/day also continue to depict an upward trend- during the last 24 hours 2,83,659 samples have been tested. Apart from coronavirus testing statistics, the ministry highlighted the testing lab network in the country and said, “The network has further strengthened with 835 labs in the government sector and 334 private labs. In total, India has as many as 1,169 labs as of July 10.”

On the other hand, these statistics come on a day when India recorded the highest single-day spike by reporting over 26,502 new coronavirus cases and 475 deaths in the last 24 hours, pushing the total tally close to eight lakhs with 21,604 deaths. As of date, India remains to be the third worst-affected country after the US and Brazil.

Talking to NDTV about the rising number of coronavirus cases and the recovery rate of the country, Dr Randeep Guleria, Director of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) said,

The rise in the number of cases will always be a cause of concern but we should look at it in terms of population. If you look at cases per million population, our numbers are not that bad.

Further talking about the recovery rate, Dr Guleria said,

I think that’s the positive side that India’s recovery rate is on a higher side even with this large population. The majority of our cases are having a mild illness or asymptomatic. What it basically means is that our mortality is going to be very low and that’s going to be the bottom line; how many lives have we saved; how many deaths happened.

Also Read: 6 Months On, A Recap Of How the Coronavirus Pandemic Unfolded

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