India’s COVID R-value rises to 1.17, driven by Kerala, Maharashtra
In Kerala the R-value was 0.87 last week. It has risen to 1.33 this week. Maharashtra has also gone up from 0.87 to 1.06
India’s COVID-19 R-value – an indicator of how fast the coronavirus is infecting the public — has once again risen to above 1 and currently stands at 1.17.
The rapid rise in cases in Maharashtra and Kerala has driven up the country’s R-value.
The last time the R-value was this high was on March 19 (1.19). This was followed by the devastating second wave.
By August 2, the overall R-value had risen to 1.03, but it retreated below 1 the subsequent week.
The R-value is an estimate of the average number of people who are likely to get the infection from one patient.
Also read: Report: Irrespective of vaccination, you can be a silent COVID carrier
In Kerala the R-value was 0.87 last week. It has risen to 1.33 this week. Maharashtra has also gone up from 0.87 to 1.06.
Maharashtra and Kerala have the highest number of active COVID cases in India, and are likely to have been the biggest contributor to the rise in R-value. But two other states have also seen a spike this week.
Mizoram now has the highest R-value — 1.36 — among states with the highest number of active cases in India. Last week, it reported an R-value of 0.67.
Similarly, Jammu and Kashmir’s R-value rose from 0.85 last week to 1.25 this week.