Coronavirus cases in North-East double in a month

While infections in India increased 1.7 times between September 4 and October 4, the North-East has been one of the fastest-growing regions with infections doubling since September 4.

Assam, at present, accounts for three-fourths of the region’s infections, but other states in the area have started growing faster. While Assam’s infections grew only 1.6 times during this period, neighbouring Arunachal Pradesh, which till now has only 10,000 Covid-19 infections, reported a growth of 2.3 times between September 4 and October 4.

Tripura, which is the second-most infected state in the region with 26,362 infections, recorded an increase of 1.9 times.

Though Assam also accounts for 74% of the regions tests, other states have a higher positivity rate — daily cases upon daily tests. On October 2, while Assam’s positivity rate was 4%, it was 8.8% in Arunachal Pradesh, 5.8% in Manipur, 6.9% in Meghalaya, 11.4% in Nagaland. Sikkim and Tripura had a positivity rate of 9 and 9.8%, respectively. The only state to have a lower positivity was Mizoram at 2.6%.

The share of north-eastern states is still relatively low — they account for 3.9% of India’s total infections — but low health infrastructure is also a concern. For instance, while India has 68 doctors for every one lakh people, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh have only 50 doctors. WHO prescribes a norm of 100 doctors for every 1 lakh people. The ratio is much more skewed in Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura. Sikkim is the only state to have 163 doctors for every 1 lakh persons.