Second wave turns corner as daily cases fall for 7 days

The devastating second wave of Covid-19 in India appears to have turned a corner. The seven-day average of daily cases has fallen for seven days in a row, the positivity rate over the past week has dipped below 20% and active cases have decreased by more than 1.5 lakh during this period.

Deaths continue to be high and may stay that way for some more time, although average daily fatalities have dropped marginally in the last two days.

The daily toll crossed 4,000 again on Saturday.

However, other indicators are looking positive although these may still not be accurately reflecting the massive Covid crisis in India’s rural landscape because of low testing numbers there. The seven-day rolling average of daily cases, a reliable pointer to the direction of the wave, has dropped by nearly 50,000, from 3.91 lakh on May 8 to 3.54 lakh on Saturday.

In another welcome change, the national test positivity rate (TPR) has dipped over the last seven days.