In 7 days, Gujarat has more than tripled its number of novel coronavirus infections, and those dying of the highly infectious virus.
Ahemdabad| As Kerala earned appreciation for bending the COVID-29 curve and Maharashtra fire for growing as the novel coronavirus epicentre in India, Gujarat developed as the real headache for the nation as it fights the pandemic.
Wednesday marked the completion of one week of coronavirus lockdown 2.0 and during this period the stat has more than tripled its number of infections, and the fatalities due to it.
Maharashtra displayed first signs of curbing the COVID-19 outbreak in the state during the extended lockdown. The numbers doubled.
The state has slowed down the rate of spread of coronavirus, Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope said. The number of positive COVID-19 cases was doubling in 5 days a few days back, now it is doubling in 7 days, Tope told reporters.
Maharashtra had recorded 2,801 positive coronavirus cases till April 15, the number on April 22 stood at 5,649. The death toll due to COVID-19 infection in Maharashtra stood at 187 on April 15, it was 270 on April 22.
Meanwhile, Gujarat had reported 33 deaths till April 15. A week later, the COVID-19 death toll in Gujarat rose to 103. The number of coronavirus positive cases in the state was 695. On April 22, the number of people having contracted novel coronavirus stood at 2,407.
Also Read: Mumbai COVID-19 Cases Rise Over 4000, BMC Has Grim Projection For City
For comparison, Maha added 2,848 new coronavirus patients in the last seven days, during which Guj added 1,712. But the former had a higher base. Similarly, Maharashtra saw 83 more deaths while Guj saw 70 during the same period.
Clearly, it is not the number but the rate of spread of COVID-19 in Gujarat is the worry. It has already pushed Delhi from the second position in the tally of states worst affected by COVID-19.
If the curve of Gujarat surge is not pulled down, it is headed to become the next virus epicentre in India at a time when crumpling economy is building stress for easing lockdown.
The state has more issues like testing for COVID-19. Reports say that of those who died of novel coronavirus till April 19, 66% died within 2 days of testing positive for COVID-19 — that is, 47 of 71. Another 13 died the same day their tests found them positive for novel coronavirus.
Maharashtra, Gujarat and Delhi together have more than 50 per cent of total COVID-19 cases in India. These three states/UTs contribute to over 25 per cent of India’s Gross Domestic Product.
Incidentally, the worst 10 coronavirus-affected states (Maharashtra, Gujarat, Delhi, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala) contribute about 70 per cent of India’s GDP.
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