India coronavirus numbers explained, Sept 21: Nearly half the increase in active cases in Sept has been from Maharashtra

On Sunday, the number of new detections of coronavirus infections across the country fell to less than 87,000.

Maharashtra has detected almost exactly four lakh new infections in the first 20 days of this month. During this period, about three lakh patients have been declared to have recovered from the disease, while about seven thousand people have died, thereby increasing the number of active cases by over 92,000.

Incidentally, Maharashtra’s contribution to the total caseload of India has been declining and has now come down to just about 22 per cent, from a high of about 40 per cent a few months back. But the nearly 50 per cent contribution in the active cases in September shows Maharashtra’s pivotal role in driving up India’s numbers in recent weeks.

In relative terms, there are several other states that have seen a bigger rise in active cases during this period. In Delhi, for example, the active cases have more than doubled, from under 16,000 to more than 32,000 now. Similarly, Kerala has seen its active cases jump by more than 75 per cent in September, from less than 23,000 to almost 40,000 now. But these two contribute only about 8 per cent each to the country-wide increase in active cases during September.

India coronavirus numbers explained, Sept 22: Over 1.01 lakh Covid-19 patients cured on Monday

Another big contributor has been Chhattisgarh, which happens to be the state with has been adding new cases at the fastest rate in the country right now. Chhattisgarh’s total caseload has increased from about 33,000 at the start of the month, to more than 86,000 now, an increase of more than 160 per cent. Consequently, its active cases have also risen by almost 140 per cent.

📣 Express Explained is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@ieexplained) and stay updated with the latest

Top ten states with maximum caseload

In Jammu and Kashmir also, the active cases have more than doubled, while in Haryana, it has increased by 80 per cent. Madhya Pradesh has also seen a 60 per cent rise in its active cases.

But there are several crucial states where the active cases have declined during September. Among them are high-caseload states of Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Bihar, and even West Bengal, where the decline is marginal as of now. Karnataka, Assam and Uttar Pradesh have also seen a very small rise in their active cases.

At the national level, the active cases have declined for the last three days, when the number of recoveries has been substantially higher than the new detections. It has come down from 10.17 lakh on September 17 to 10.03 lakh on Sunday. But this can begin to increase once again.

Active cases are important because these show the extent of the current burden on the country’s health infrastructure. These are also the ones that are currently spreading the disease to others.

On Sunday, the number of new detections of coronavirus infections across the country fell to less than 87,000. This number has been hovering in the 90,000s for the last two weeks. There were more than 93,000 recoveries reported for the day. The recoveries in the last three days have been more than 90,000, and have exceeded the number of new detections. The number of coronavirus-related deaths is now touching 88,000.