India's COVID-19 fatality rate at 1.50 pc, lowest since Mar 22: Health ministry

India's COVID-19 fatality rate has dropped to 1.50 per cent, the lowest since March 22, the Union Health Ministry said on Monday crediting the focused efforts of the Centre, states and UTs on effective clinical management of hospitalised cases. There are 14 states and Union Territories including Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Bihar, Odisha, Assam and Kerala where the Case Fatality Ratio (CFR) is lower than 1 per cent, the ministry said.

With an effective containment strategy, aggressive testing and standardised clinical management protocols based on holistic standard of care protocol across government and private hospitals, the number of new deaths has significantly dipped, it said. Less than 500 deaths (480) have been reported in a span of 24 hours in the country, according to the data updated at 8 am on Monday.

"India has one of the lowest fatality rates in the world. The case fatality rate is lowest since March 22 and is continuously declining," the ministry said as it underlined that the case fatality rate was 3.23 per cent on May 4.

As part of the COVID-19 management and response policy, the Centre has had a sharp focus on not only containing the spread of the disease but to reduce deaths and save lives by providing quality clinical care to critical and severe patients, the ministry said.

Collaborative efforts of the Centre, states, and union territories have resulted in strengthening of the health facilities across the country. Presently, 2,218 dedicated COVID hospitals are providing quality medical care, it said. As part of a unique initiative to build the capacities of ICU doctors in clinical management of critical patients towards reducing fatalities, e-ICU has been started by AIIMS, New Delhi, it said.

Twice a week, on Tuesdays and Fridays, tele/video-consultation sessions are held by knowledge and domain experts for doctors manning the ICUs in the state hospitals. These sessions started from July 8. Till date, 25 tele-sessions have been held, and 393 institutions across 34 states and UTs have participated in them.

Also, many states have conducted population surveys to map and identify the vulnerable population like the elderly, pregnant women and those with comorbidities.  This, with the help of technological solutions like mobile apps has ensured keeping the high-risk population under continuous observation, thus aiding early identification, timely clinical treatment and reducing fatalities. At the ground level, frontline health workers like ASHAs and ANMs have done a commendable job of managing the migrant population and to enhance awareness at the community level, the ministry said.

"As a result, there are 14 states and UTs with CFR lower than 1 per cent," the ministry underscored.

The ministry said that 59,105 new recoveries were added in a span of 24 hours as against 45,148 new infections being reported during the same period.  The total number of recoveries have crossed 71 lakh (71,37,228). A higher number of single day recoveries is also reflected in the continuous increase in the national recovery rate, which is 90.23 per cent at present, the ministry highlighted.

"India continues to report a trend of steadily decreasing active cases. Presently the active cases comprise merely 8.26 pc of the total caseload of the country standing at 6,53,717. This is the lowest since August 13 when the active cases were 6,53,622," the ministry said.

Seventy eight per cent of the new recovered cases are observed to be concentrated in 10 states and a UT - Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Delhi, Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan. Karnataka has contributed the maximum to the single day recoveries with more than 10,000 cases followed by Kerala with more than 7,000 cases.

A total 45,148 new coronavirus infections were registered in a day in the country on Monday which is "the lowest since July 22 when 37,000 new cases were added", the ministry said. Eighty two per cent of the new cases are from 10 states and a UT -- Kerala, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Delhi, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Odisha.  Kerala and Maharashtra contributed the maximum to the new confirmed cases with more than 6,000 cases each followed by Karnataka, Delhi and West Bengal with more than 4,000 cases, the ministry said.

Also, 480 case fatalities have been reported in a span of 24 hours. Of these, nearly 80 per cent are concentrated in 10 states and a UT - Maharashtra, West Bengal, Delhi, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh and Odisha.

More than 23 per cent of the new fatalities were reported from Maharashtra (112 deaths).  India's COVID-19 caseload mounted to  79,09,959 with  45,148  new infections being reported in a day, while the death toll climbed to 1,19,014 with 480 new fatalities, the data updated at 8 am on Monday showed. 

(Image Credits: PTI)