The R-value of COVID in Delhi and Mumbai has exceeded 2 since the start of the pandemic, indicating that the COVID is spreading at the fastest rate in these two cities. The Health Ministry said on Thursday that India’s total R-value is 1.22. Any value greater than 1 is worrying because it suggests that more people are getting infected than the current number of infected people.
The data study by researchers of the Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Chennai revealed that Chennai, Pune, Bengaluru and Kolkata too have an R-value of over 1.
The R-value of Delhi stood at 2.54 between December 23-29, while for Mumbai it was 2.01 between December 23-28. Pune and Bengaluru recorded an R-value of 1.11. The R-value of Kolkata and Chennai was 1.13 and 1.26, respectively.
“Since mid-October, the R-value of all these cities was over 1. What is new was the sudden rise. The fact that Delhi and Mumbai crossed the R-value 2 is quite surprising,” Sitabhra Sinha, who led the study, told PTI.
Talking about R-value, Niti Aayog member (health) Dr VK Paul said, “We believe on the scientific basis R0 is 1.22 as per the available data… so the cases are now increasing, not shrinking. As the scenario emerges, we believe what we are witnessing could be part of the global rise in cases pushed by the Omicron variant… we are already aware that this variant is highly transmissible and that perhaps explains the speed with which it is rising in the world.”
Delhi reported 1,313 fresh COVID cases on Thursday, which is 42% higher than Wednesday’s COVID cases. The positivity rate in the capital has reached 1.73%. On 26 May, when Delhi saw 1,491 Covid cases, the positivity rate was 1.93%.
Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain said that community transmission of Omicron is taking place in Delhi as people who have no international travel history are contracting this variant. The same is being reported from Mumbai, as per BMC data, 141 residents of Mumbai who had not traveled abroad tested positive for Omicron.
