Covid-19: Faster doubling rate of 10 days now

NEW DELHI: India’s doubling rate of Covid-19 cases has worsened further to 10 days with a continued spike in daily cases.

According to ministry of health and family welfare statistics, total confirmed cases rose to 56,342 at 8 am on Friday—an increase of 3,390 in the last 24 hours. The number has been increasing consistently over the last four days.

On May 3, the 24-hour increase was 2,553, which was the last time the daily increase had not crossed the 3,000-mark. Since then, there has been a spike in numbers, with most cases being reported in Maharashtra.


On May 4, the numbers had increased by 3,900. The government is also studying fresh data of cases and would review districts classified as red, orange and green. The doubling rate, which was 13 days at the beginning of the week, came down to 10 days on Friday.

“Till two days back, the doubling rate was 12 days and now it is 10 days,” said joint secretary (health) Lav Agarwal. “This change has come at a time when we are talking about relaxation of lockdown conditions. We have a big challenge before us. We have to learn to live with the virus. We have specific guidelines, which need to be followed and even one slip-up can cost us.” A total of 16,540 people have been cured. In the last 24 hours, 1,273 patients were found cured. The recovery rate has now increased to 29.36 %, which means that every one in three persons hospitalised has been cured. On an average, 3.2% patients are on oxygen support, 4.7% of patients are in ICU, and 1.1% on ventilator support.

Health minister Harsh Vardhan reviewed Covid management of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Telangana on Friday. The health ministry has taken note of the sudden increase in the number of cases in Tamil Nadu. Chennai’s increasing numbers have been a cause for concern. According to sources, the health ministry red flagged the containment efforts of Tamil Nadu in the meeting.