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Image credit: 罗 宏志 / 123rf

The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 have surpassed ninety million. The global death toll due to the disease inches towards two million as fatalities number at more than 1.9 million.

India remains the country with the second-highest number of confirmed infections with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) – the novel coronavirus which causes COVID-19 – thus far. At the time of writing, India has recorded 10,467,431 confirmed COVID-19 cases according to Worldometer. This places it behind only the United States in terms of confirmed COVID-19 cases. 

However, there remains a high recovery rate of 96.42 percent according to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. This is coupled with a falling case fatality rate, currently at 1.44 percent. 

As such, while India places second in the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 during the pandemic, it ranks fourteenth in terms of active cases. The United States, France, United Kingdom, Brazil, Belgium, Italy, Russia, Germany, Serbia, Ukraine, Mexico, South Africa, and Poland are all reported to have more active infections at the time of writing. India’s are posited at 223,324 according to Worldometer. As of Sunday, active cases represent 2.14 percent of the total number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the country. 

In terms of active confirmed cases of COVID-19 in India, two states shoulder the majority of the COVID-19 burden. Kerala and Maharashtra reportedly account for more than 53 percent of confirmed cases of COVID-19. 

Concerns remain, however, over mutant strains of COVID-19. One new variant first identified in the United Kingdom has made landfall in India with cases now totalling 96 as of today according to the Union Health Ministry. The new variant, which is significantly more transmissible than other previously-identified strains, has prompted tough restrictions on those who test positive as well as travel restrictions between India and the United Kingdom. Fortunately, it is not believed to predispose those infected to a greater risk of a critical condition, nor an increased mortality risk. 

Last week, the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare assured that “the situation is under careful watch and regular advice is being provided to the states for enhanced surveillance, containment, testing and dispatch of samples to Insacog labs.” Additionally, India recently became the first country to culture the new COVID-19 variant according to the Indian Council of Medical Research.