Where do cleanest cities of India stand vis-à-vis Covid-19 cases?

Nine out of the top 10 cleanest cities in the country, according to Swachh Survekshan (annual cleanliness survey), have reported about 2.54 Lakh (or 8.76 per cent) cases and 7,766 (or 14.70 per cent) deaths due to coronavirus. The list consists of three major hotspots like Delhi, Navi Mumbai, and Ahmedabad. The Swachh Survekshan is the annual exercise of the government of India to survey and rank the cities based on their cleanliness, sanitation, and hygiene.

Related news: Indore hits a four, emerges as cleanest Indian city again

Ahmedabad and Navi Mumbai are the worst-hit by coronavirus pandemic. These cities have reported 29,662 and 23,968 cases respectively as of August 20. The figures for Delhi show that it has about 1.57 lakh cases, but the data for New Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) is not separately provided by the government. It is followed by Surat (17,884 cases), Mysore (12,304 cases) and Indore (10,559 cases) which have recorded more than 10,000 cases so far.

All these cities have reported 7,766 deaths due to coronavirus until Thursday (August 20). The death rate of these cities is 3 per cent which is much higher as compared to 1.89 per cent of India.

Ahmedabad is the worst-hit city in terms of both the number of deaths and death rate. It has recorded 1,674 deaths and the death rate is highest at 5.64 per cent as of Thursday. The cleanest city in the country, Indore, has a death rate of 3.31 per cent, while the second-ranked Surat has 3.22 per cent death rate as of August 20. These cities together have reported approximately one thousand deaths. Delhi has a death rate of 2.71 per cent while it has reported 4,257 fatalities during the same period.

Mysore and Navi Mumbai have a death rate of 2.60 and 2.37 per cent, respectively. Only three cities, Chandrapur (Maharashtra), Khargone (Madhya Pradesh), and Ambikapur (Chhattisgarh) have a death rate below the national average.

The hotspots seemed to have recovered better than the smaller cities. Delhi has a recovery rate of more than ninety per cent while the other two hotspots have recorded the recovery rate above eighty per cent. Other cities are still struggling to increase recoveries. This shows that the new cases in these places are still higher than those of recoveries.