For every 10 Covid-19-related deaths, 90 recoveries, says govt

With 2,553 new Covid-19 cases reported in the past 24 hours, the total number of infected patients in the country is 42533, with 1389 deaths, according to the health ministry’s data

The ratio of number of coronavirus disease (Covid-19) cases recovering in relation to the number of people dying of the viral infection has improved with the current Union health ministry data showing the outcome ratio to be 90:10. So for every 10 deaths, 90 people have recovered from the disease.

Health workers wearing hazmat suits and masks are accompanied by police officers as they conduct an inspection in a residential area, during a nationwide lockdown in India to slow the spread of Covid-19 in Mumbai’s Dharavi. (Reuters File Photo)

“We determine the outcome ratio by analysing our cases that are closed in terms of people in hospitals who recovered proportional to those who died of the infection. This also indicates the clinical management status of a hospital,” said Lav Agarwal, joint secretary, health ministry, adding that the outcome ratio has improved been April 17 and May 4.

“On April 17, the ratio was 80:20, wherein 80 people had been discharged after recovery and 20 patients could not make it. The current outcome ratio, however, has improved and stands at 90:10,” he added.

On Monday, the country also reported the highest number of recovered patients to date.

“A total of 1,074 patients have recovered in the past 24 hours, which is the highest to date, taking the total number of patients cured of Covid-19 in the country to 11706. It has also improved India’s recovery rate that now stands at 27.52%,” he said.

With 2,553 new Covid-19 cases reported in the past 24 hours, the total number of infected patients in the country is 42533, with 1389 deaths, according to the health ministry’s data (which lags the data in the HT dashboard).

“So far we have been fortunate that India has not seen an exponential growth in cases like other affected countries. However, people need to be extra careful now that the lockdown is being eased in a staggered manner, so as to not throw away the gains made. The focus will continue to remain on rigorous containment measures in areas from where maximum cases are being reported and strictly implementing infection control practices,” said Agarwal.

The health ministry has urged people to wear masks or a face cover when stepping out, and to scrupulously follow physical distancing.

Implementing total lockdown has yielded results in the form of significant improvement in India’s case doubling rate that before lockdown stood at about 3.4 days and is now almost 12 days.

The testing capacity has also been ramped up to meet the demand by increasing the number of labs to 426 (315 in the government sector and 111 in the private sector) and increasing sampling. “As on May 3 we have done more than a million tests for Covid-19, and 77,474 in a day. There is no shortage of testing kits or any other material in the country; all those who need to be tested are being tested,” Agarwal added.