The number of active Covid-19 cases in India dropped sharply as recoveries continued to exceed new cases, according to data from the health ministry.
Active cases declined by 27,438 to 975,861 on Tuesday. Recoveries of 101,468 took the total to more than 4.49 million, or 81% of the cases reported so far.
The development comes as a respite for the country, which added about 90,000 cases almost every day this month. “This is a relief, but the next few months as the festival season kicks off will be crucial,” said Vinod Paul of Niti Aayog.
India’s cases per million population – at 4,031– are among the lowest globally, according to data available with the health ministry. The figure for the world is 3,965. But the overall situation is under control, Paul added. India also has the lowest mortality rate in the world, health ministry officials said.
Recoveries exceeded new cases for four straight days, health secretary Rajesh Bhushan said. “This kind of successive trend has not been seen in the country since May,” Bhushan said. The number of active cases in Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal declined in the week ended September 22 from a week earlier.
UP, active cases fell to 5,956 for September 16-22 from 6,477 in the preceding week. In Tamil Nadu, the number dropped to 5,546 from 5,607 and in Delhi, active cases declined to 3,960 from 4,001during this period.
Maharashtra, the epicentre of the pandemic in India, reported fewer cases in the past week, health ministry officials said.
