Districts with COVID-19 positivity rate of over 10% down to 29 now

Senior health authorities, on March 3, highlighted that over the last three weeks, the number of districts reporting more than a 10 percent COVID-19 test positivity rate (TPR) in India has come down from 141 to 29.

During the same period, the number of districts reporting a TPR of 5-10 percent has come down from 161 to 34 while the number of districts with a TPR of under 5 percent has increased from 432 to 671.

In a briefing on the coronavirus pandemic status and response in the country, Lav Agarwal, joint secretary in the health ministry also stressed that while globally, the COVID19 cases have come down by 55 percent since the peak of the Omicron wave, this figure has been over 96 percent for India.

He also said that India has reported a sharper decline in deaths, 76.6 percent, during the last surge when compared to the world which has seen a 22.8 percent decline in fatalities.

COVID-19 deaths in Omicron wave lesser than Delta due to higher vaccination coverage: Govt

Agarwal also said that even now in many countries, huge COVID-19 cases are being reported and in some countries, an increase in the trajectory of cases continues whereas a sharp reduction of COVID-19 cases has been observed in India.

“On average, around 11,000 COVID-19 cases were reported on a weekly basis in India last week and there has been a sharp reduction in the number of cases. Only 0.7 percent of global cases are now being reported in India,” said the official.

The figures presented by the official in the briefing also showed that while between February 2-8, 615 deaths were being reported daily on an average, this figure came down to 144 last week.

“While globally the Omicron surge led to a peak almost 4.68 times the previously reported peak, India’s efforts have yielded positive results, “said Agarwal. “Not only the reported peak in India was much lower, but the consistent efforts also led to a steep decline in cases.”