CORONA DEATHS DROP BELOW 2.5% FOR THE FIRST TIME! SITUATION GETTING BETTER IN INDIA? REPORT

While the number of Coronavirus positive cases in India has crossed the million- mark, 26,816 deaths have been reported as on July 18. However, the Case Fatality Rate (CFR) has dropped below 2.5 per cent for the first time. The silver lining is that India’s CFR is 1.78 percentage lower than the global average.

As per data released by the Union Health Ministry on Sunday, 299 states and Union Territories int eh country have reported a CFR which is lesser than the national average and 14 states have reported CFR less than 1 per cent.

The reasons behind the decline in CFR percentage could be attributed to reporting of cases to the hospital within 24- 72 hours of the patient displaying symptoms. However, the CFR in states like Maharashtra and Gujarat are higher than the national average and could have possibly been avoided. 

Among the big states, Maharashtra (3.85), Gujarat (4.48) and West Bengal (2.67) continue to report CFR that is higher than the national average. Whereas, southern states such as   Telangana (0.93), Andhra Pradesh (1.31), Tamil Nadu (1.75), Karnataka (2.06) have been reporting decline in CFR despite increase in positive cases.

“As we learn more about the virus, the Centre has defined and continuously refined the clinical management protocol document. This guides clinicians on the standard of care and quality of care. Experts from the Centre keep telling the doctors that standard of care and quality of care is directly linked to the symptom of the disease, followed by monitoring and treating the symptoms as per the guidelines. This is why we have been able to lower CFR,” The New Indian Express cited an official source in its report. 

India’s CFR is reportedly 2.49 per cent is lower than that of the United States (3.88 per cent) and Brazil (3.81), the only two countries that have reported more cases than India according to the latest report released by WHO.