Covid-19: R-value above 1 in 8 states, says Health Ministry

Students of a govt school attend an open-air class for those who cannot afford smartphones and internet facilities, after decline in COVID-19 cases at Tangmarg in Baramulla district of J&K, on Tuesday. Pic/PTI

The government on Tuesday said India's R-value or reproductive number that denotes the spread of Covid-19 is more than one in eight states, including Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

Reproduction number is a measure that highlights the number of people a Coronavirus positive person infects, thereby reflecting the severity of its spread. A number of one or below one indicates a slowly spreading virus while any number above 1 indicates a rapid spread. The government said that in the last week, 49.85 per cent of the total cases were reported from Kerala.

People wait in a queue to receive a dose of Covishield vaccine at a primary school in Siliguri on Tuesday. Pic/AFP

An official said the pandemic is far from over, and the second wave, as far as India is concerned, is still not over.

Active cases fall

India added 30,549 more cases and 422 fatalities over a period of 24 hours, according to Union health ministry data updated on Tuesday morning. The active cases, which was consistently rising over the past six days, dropped significantly to 4,04,958.

‘Zydus Cadila will soon get emergency-use nod'

Union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Tuesday said in Parliament that four more Indian pharmaceutical firms are expected to start anti-Coronavirus vaccine production by October-November this year and that that will accelerate the inoculation drive.

Mansukh Mandaviya

Biologicals E and Novartis vaccines will also be available in the market in the coming days, while Zydus Cadila will soon get an emergency-use nod from an expert committee, Mandaviya said during the Question Hour in the Rajya Sabha.

Vaccination drive is going on smoothly... It will get more accelerated in the coming days with the ramping up of production by four more Indian companies," Mandaviya said during the Question Hour in the Rajya Sabha.

At present, two companies (Bharat Biotech and Serum Institute) are supplying the vaccine to the government. Sputnik vaccine is also available and production of which has begun, he added.

Responding to BJP member Susheel Kumar Modi's query on the government's plan to reduce the vaccine quota to private hospitals, the minister said it was not necessary as the unused vaccines of the private hospitals are taken by the government.

A woman gets vaccine shot at a centre in Siliguri on Tuesday. Pic/AFP

"In a month, we saw seven to nine per cent unused vaccines by private hospitals. So, we decided to take those unutilised doses in the government quota. Therefore, it is not necessary to reduce the quota for the private. The vaccination is happening smoothly," he said.

3,17,26,507
Total no. of Coronavirus cases in india so far

4,25,195
Total no. of deaths due to the virus in India so far

4,04,958
Total no. of active cases in India

Oct-Nov - Time when production at new firms is scheduled to start

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