Covid death rate low in Telangana but then so is the testing rate

Telangana reported its highest single day spike on Friday after 1,986 new COVID-19 cases came to be recorded. This took the overall tally of positive cases in the state to 62,703. With 14 more deaths, the coronavirus toll in the state rose to 519.

While the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), the hotbed of the virus spread in the state, continued to report a high number of cases, there was a significant rise in the number of cases being reported from different districts, including Ranga Reddy, Medchal-Malkajgiri, Sangareddy, Warangal Urban and Karimnagar.

Out of the 1,986 fresh cases, 586 were from the GHMC, followed by Medchal-Malkajgiri (207) and Ranga Reddy (205) districts, the bulletin said. The other districts which reported a substantial number of cases include Warangal Urban (123), Karimnagar (116) and Sangareddy (108).

The number of individuals in home/institutional isolation was 10,632. The number of asymptomatic cases (of those under home isolation) was 84 per cent. The recovery rate was 72.3 per cent in the state, while it was 64 per cent in the country. As many as 45,388 people have recovered from the infection so far, while 16,796 were under treatment.

The case fatality rate in the state was 0.82 per cent, while it was 2.20 per cent at the national level.

Case Fatality Rate (CFR) is a measure of the severity of a disease and is defined as the proportion of reported cases of a specified disease or condition which are fatal within a specified time, as per the World Health Organisation definition.  

Interestingly, the percentage of deaths due to co-morbidities was 53.87 per cent, higher than the national average of around 43 per cent. This parameter is significant as there is a common belief that people with co-morbidities are more likely to die of coronavirus.

However, Telangana continued to lag behind in testing its population. As per the latest health bulletin, 21,380 samples were tested on July 30, the highest in a single day so far. Cumulatively, 4,37,582 samples have been tested so far.

However, even states like Odisha and Bihar, with a lower case load than Telangana, have tested over 5 lakh people so far. Even economically weaker states like Madhya Pradesh, Assam and West Bengal have conducted over eight lakh tests each so far.

The number of vacant isolation, oxygen and ICU beds was 11,179 and 2,268 and 1,352 respectively, the bulletin said. It said RT-PCR/CBNAAT/TRUENAT testing facilities in government were 16 and 23 in the private sector. It also said 320 rapid antigen testing centres have been set up by the government.