Spike of 1.65 lakh cases, lowest in 46 days recorded

NEW DELHI, May 30
India on Sunday reported the lowest number of new Covid-19 cases in 46 days with a single-day rise of 1.65 lakh cases. India's Covid caseload stands at more than 2.78 crore and the death toll at over 3.25 lakh, as per the official count.
With 1,65,553 new cases, India's tally of total Covid-19 stands at 2,78,94,800, as per Union Health Ministry data at 9 am.
The count of the daily new cases is the lowest in 46 days. India recorded 1,61,736 infections on April 13.
The daily positivity declined to 8.02 per cent, remaining below the 10 per cent-mark for five consecutive days, while the weekly positivity rate dropped to 9.36 per cent.
In just three weeks, India's seven-day average of daily cases has fallen to half the number recorded at the peak of the second wave infection on May 8.
The average of Covid cases fell below 2 lakh on Saturday and stood at 1,95,183, almost exactly 50% of the peak of 3,91,263, as per TOI’s Covid database collated daily from State Government figures.
The 50 per cent reduction in average daily cases in the second wave has come in half the time as compared with the first wave of the pandemic in the country.
On the other hand, with 3,460 new deaths reported in a day, India's total death toll now stands at 3,25,972, as per the Ministry data.
The daily death toll hasn't followed the same steep downward slope as of the cases yet. The seven-day average of daily fatalities has fallen by around 18 per cent from the peak, not counting the over 5,000 deaths from earlier months added to Maharashtra's tally during this period.
The meteoric rise of Covid-19 cases during the second wave that overwhelmed the health infrastructure in the country is now being matched by an equally steep decline in infections. In just three weeks, the seven-day average of daily cases has fallen to half the number recorded at the peak.
The seven-day average of daily fatalities hit a high of 4,040 on May 16.
Interestingly, the rate of decline in cases almost mirrors the earlier rise in infections during the second wave. While the daily average has fallen by half in three weeks, the count was close to half of the eventual peak three weeks prior to it. The seven-day average stood at 2,03,949 on April 17, three weeks before cases peaked in the country.
Also, 20,63,839 Covid-19 tests were conducted in the country on Saturday, taking the total number of such exams so far to 34,31,83,748, the Ministry said.
The number of active cases has reduced to 21,14,508, comprising 7.58 per cent of the total infections, while the National Covid-19 recovery rate has improved to 91.25 per cent, it said.
The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 2,54,54,320, while the case fatality rate stands at 1.17 per cent, the data stated.
India's Covid-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7 last year, 30 lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on September 5, 50 lakh on September 16, 60 lakh on September 28, 70 lakh on October 11, 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20 and one crore on December 19.
India crossed the grim milestone of two crore infections on May 4.
Times of India