Alarm bells: Covid far from over, reproductive number value goes up in 8 states

Covid 19 update: The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) warned on Tuesday there are eight states where the value of reproductive number for the coronavirus disease exceeds 1. As per the Covid 19 update, the worry is not just the high value of the number, but also its rising trend.

The eight states with a high reproductive number value of coronavirus are Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Lakshadweep, Tamil Nadu, Mizoram, Karnataka, Puducherry and Kerala.

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Among these, the number is at its highest in Himachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir, where it is at 1.4 for each, followed by 1.3 in Lakshadweep. It is at 1.2 in Tamil Nadu, Mizoram and Karnataka, while the corresponding figure for both Puducherry in Kerala is 1.1. Besides, nine states have a reproductive number value at exactly 1: Delhi, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Goa, Jharkhand, Nagaland and Meghalaya.

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Notably, reproductive number, which is also known as R-factor or R-value, is the reproductive rate of a virus, in this case Covid 19. It denotes the speed at which the infection is spreading, or the number of people to whom the virus was passed by an individual at the time he/she was infected with it. An R-value of more than 1 means an infected individual further infected more than one individual.

-PTC News