Does Dip in Delhi’s Positivity Rate Mean We’ve Passed the Peak?

At last there seems to be a hint of a decline in India’s Covid cases. Although the country logged over 3,20,000 cases on 11 May, this is the third consecutive dip in active cases in the overall tally.

The overall dip is also coinciding with a drop in cases and positivity rate in two of the worst affected places in the country — Delhi and Maharashtra.

While Delhi reported 12,481 fresh infections on 12 May, the positivity rate has come down further below to 17.76 percent on the same day (which is the lowest that we’ve seen since mid-April). In Maharashtra as well, the daily positivity rate has dropped below 20 percent for the third consecutive day even as the state reported a little less than 50,000 cases on 12 May. The state's active cases have also fallen below six lakhs.

Does this suggest that the worst is over? Have we passed the peak or is there more to it? In this podcast we keep the focus of our analysis on the capital — Delhi, while looking at some of the upcoming trends in smaller states. Tune in!

Host and Producer: Shorbori Purkayastha

Guests: Dr Mathew Varghese, Public health expert and Orthopaedic surgeon at St Stephens Hospital in Delhi, Dr Murad Banaji, Mathematician at Middlesex University with an interest in disease modelling Vaishali Sood, the Editor of Quint Fit

Editor: Shelly Walia

References: In Charts: Delhi Positivity Rate Below 20, Still a Long Way to Go Hitting the heartland: Covid cases surge in small towns and villages Dr Bhramar Mukherjee Tweet As deaths go up 10 fold, worrying signs from smaller states

Music: Big Bang Fuzz

Listen to The Big Story podcast on:

Apple: https://apple.co/2AYdLIl

Saavn: http://bit.ly/2oix78C

Google Podcasts: http://bit.ly/2ntMV7S

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2IyLAUQ

Deezer: http://bit.ly/2Vrf5Ng

Castbox: http://bit.ly/2VqZ9ur Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices