Measures to combat coronavirus paying off: Indian govt

Even as the number of coronavirus cases in India today surged past the 15,000-mark and death toll past 500, the government said several steps for prevention, containment and management of the contagion are yielding good results in 23 states and federally-ruled territories across 4 districts.

Twenty two new districts in 12 states have not reported any fresh cases in the last 14 days, the health ministry said in an update on Saturday night. It said that as of now, the mortality rate for COVID-19 is of 3.3 percent, reports our New Delhi correspondent.

A health ministry analysis of the data indicates that out of the deceased, a majority of them (42.2 percent) are from the 75 years and above age group, followed by 33.1 percent in 60-75 years age group, 14.4 percent in 0-45 years age group and 10.3 per cent in 45 -60 years age group.

The data shows that 75.3 percent of the coronavirus cases belong to the above 60 years age category. Also, it is seen that 83 percent of the cases had co-morbidities, underlining once again that the elderly and people with co-morbidities are at higher risk.

The health ministry this morning put the total number of cases at 15,712 of whom 2,230 have been cured and the death toll at 507. The health ministry said the recovery rate suggests the number of people who have fought off the contagion is improving.

The rate this morning stood at 14.20 percent, up from 13.85 percent on Saturday and 9.9 percent on Tuesday last.