Coronavirus: Recoveries surpass active covid-19 cases

The number of covid patients who have made a recovery outstripped the tally of active cases on Wednesday, led by a surprise push by the so-called Bimaru (ailing) states of the Hindi heartland—Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.

The government said as many as 5,991 patients were cured in the last 24 hours, taking the number of recovered patients to 135,205, marginally higher than the 133,632 active cases. “For the first time, the total number of recovered patients has exceeded the active cases. The recovery rate now stands at 48.88%. If the country takes proper precautions and abides by the government guidelines after easing of the lockdown, the covid-19 situation will improve gradually,” said Preeti Sudan, health secretary.

Covid cases in India, however, continued to rise inexorably to hit 277,458 on Wednesday as the country overtook Spain to take the fifth spot globally. Government data shows recovery rates varying across states and within districts. Madhya Pradesh has one of the best recovery rates in some of its districts, with 100% recovery in a few. In some districts of Uttar Pradesh 95% of patients have recovered from covid. Bihar’s districts hit a high of 75% recovery.

In Rajasthan, the Sawai Man Singh government hospital alone has cured many patients, taking the recovery rate to 73.24% in the state—better than Gujarat (67.92%), Maharashtra (45.07%), Delhi (38.56%) and UP (58.48%).

“We focused on aggressive testing, smart contact tracing and quality healthcare of those who test positive. Constant checking of oxygen levels and quick referrals to higher-level care when symptoms appear,” said Rohit Kumar Singh, additional chief secretary, medical and health, Rajasthan. “These efforts seem to have worked as we have managed to take the recovery levels to 73% and keep the case fatality rate in the vicinity of 2.3%,” he said.

Likely factors in Bimaru states could be fewer cases in Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh and greater availability of hospital beds in some districts.

Leroy Leo contributed to the story.