New Delhi: The Coronavirus pandemic has gripped the entire world and has been wreaking havoc across all the continents for past 4 months, still, there seems to be no respite in sight.
The scale and intensity of Covid-19 spread can be understood from the fact that – It took 67 days from 1st reported case of Covid-19 to reach 100,000 cases, 11 days for the second 100,000, and just four days for the third 100,000.
India better placed than rest of the world
Like other European nations, India’s Corona trajectory was distressing initially as the cases were doubling in just 4 days.
When the number of Corona+ patients in India was 750, the numbers kept doubling in 4 days till it reached 3,000 indicating that ‘localised transmission’ (as govt put it) was spreading at a much faster rate. Apparently, Tablighi Jamaat Markaz played big role in suddenly scaling up the number of Corona patients.
Corona case doubling in 6 days in India; 2 days for US,France, Germany
Today, the numbers stand at 12,000 and the govt estimates clearly show that the doubling rate has slowed i.e. from 4 days to 6 days.
Looking at other Western nations, one understands that countries like US, Italy, Spain and Germany continue to remain in the strong grip of Covid-19.
For US, there is no wonder that Covid-19 has infected more than 6 lakh people because cases are multiplying in 2 days much like earlier. Other harshly impacted countries like Italy and Spain have managed to restrain it but only by a small degree. Earlier, the Corona doubling rate was 2 days, now it has improved slightly to 4 days…. not a very optimistic sign.
Lockdown contained Corona growth
As per today’s estimates, the number of Corona patients will become 24,000 in next 7-8 days and will thus put the medical services under huge strain.
But, imagine if the lockdown wasn’t brought in early, how disastrous would the situation have been.
India opted for lockdown when the Corona cases were about 500. In the last 21-days, the Covid-19 has continued to spread its tentacles across the length and breadth of the country but it’s much deflated now. Lockdown ensured that India doesn’t become the hotbed of Covid-19 like European nations.
2 lakh tests in 10K Corona cases – India takes the lead
Medical fraternity and experts share similar view that Testing Corona is the sole weapon to curb its spread. Many cynics panned the government for being ‘high on rhetoric and low on testing’ and termed a half-hearted fight against Corona.
But, official figures show that India has been taking the Corona challenge head-on. And, it has been much ahead of its European peers in this.
Graph shows, that till now India has tested more than 2 lakh people for Covid-19. For 5,000 Corona cases, India tested close to 1 lakh samples and when the cases reached 10,000, govt had tested almost 2 lakh people for the infection.
US and European nations like UK and Italy did poorly on the testing despite being the most affected. While US conducted about 1.40 lakh tests for 10,000 cases, UK did only 1.13 lakh while Italy didn’t even reach a lakh.
Corona cases and deaths in India, lesser than European & Asian peers
Originating from China’s Wuhan, the Coronavirus spread like wildfire and has till now killed more than 1.25 lakh worldwide.
However, the statistics of Corona cases per 1 million population shows India stands better placed than not just European but also Asian counterparts like Japan and South Korea. Remember, these 2 Asian nations won much appreciation for launching momentous drive against virus.
In a population of 10 lakh, South Korea reported 207 cases and Japan 68 while in India, only 9 people were contracted with Covid-9 infection.
European countries remained worst affected, with 2,000-3,000 out of 10 lakh population, being hit by Covid-19.
In Covid-19 fatality rate too, India fared better than European & Asian counterparts. In 1 million population, Spain witnessed above 400 deaths, Italy more than 350, South Korea and Japan 4 & 1 respectively, the mortality rate in India due to Covid-19 was 0.3.
What India’s current Corona trajectory says
India’s current Corona trajectory is steeper than Asian peers but flatter than countries like US, UK, Italy and Spain.
Number of Covid-19 patients may rise with increase in testing numbers but it seems that India with its billion plus population has managed to keep a check on transmission of virus to a greater extent. And, a dip in doubling rate may just be a clear sign that Lockdown did help flatten the curve.
