Covid-19 grip on southern states seen loosening

BENGALURU: Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Telangana have reported a recovery rate of above 95% in Covid-19 infected persons, pointing to a gradual decline of the pandemic, and probably improved immunity levels in the population.

Kerala, however, has been an exception where the recovery rate is a tad below at 89%.

Manipal Hospitals chairman Dr Sudarshan Ballal said the higher recovery could be due to both improved immunity and better control measures.

The average rate of recovery at the national level itself is about 94%, inspiring hope among the Covid-19 administrators. The steady improvement in Covid-19 indicators combined with the news around the development of vaccines is expected to lift the economy further.

Kerala has been reporting a higher number of infections over the past few days, but that is not causing concern among senior health officials because it has not led to an increase in deaths. The state has not only reported fewer deaths compared to its southern peers but finds itself somewhere at the bottom of the heap with an impressive record. The state has had four deaths for every 1,000 infected persons.

Another encouraging trend has been the doubling rate or the number of days taken for the Covid-19 positive cases to double galloping to a national average of 79 days. Among the southern states, it takes more than three months for the cases to double in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, 87 days in Telangana, and 79 days in Karnataka. In the case of Kerala, it takes 48 days, which probably explains why the state is not going easy on quarantine regulations as in the other states.

Back in mid-August, the number of days taken for Covid-19 positive cases to double had risen sharply across the south — indicating that the epidemic was moving towards a peak. It was in the range of 17 to 25 days across the southern states around that time.

ET Bureau

The present trends, as for the case fatality rate or deaths per 100 infected persons, shows Tamil Nadu remains at the top with 1.5%, followed by Karnataka at 1.3%, Telangana at 0.5%, Kerala at 0.4% and Andhra Pradesh at 0.3%. Except Tamil Nadu, all other states have a death rate below that of the national average (1.5%).

According to Dr Ballal, there has been a dramatic improvement in Covid-19 cases across the south, except in Kerala. The southern states, he said, did not see a resurgence of the pandemic as it happened in parts of North India at the beginning of November.

“I used to get about 100 calls or text messages a day in September and October for hospital beds, and I don’t get a single call now. Which means hospital beds are available even without influence,” he said.

Dr Ballal hailed Karnataka’s decision to ease restrictions on blocking of beds in private hospitals which he said had made all those beds available for treating non-Covid patients, who, he said, suffered a lot during the peak season of the pandemic.





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