Coronavirus: Assam, West Bengal, Bihar, and UP nation's biggest contributors to daily numbers

Guwahati: At a time when the nation's coronavirus numbers seem to be declining steadily, Assam and 3 other big states are continuing to show a dramatic growth rate as far as the number of coronavirus cases is concerned.

A close perusal of data reveals that the coronavirus number has been rising in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, and Assam where the numbers have grown by several times since July.

Apart from the states of Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu, these 4 states have been showing consistent rates of growth.

In Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal, the number of infected patients has already crossed 1 lakh, while Bihar is not too far away. Assam, with about 68,000 cases is some distance away, but it too has been growing at a fast pace.

Each of these four states has been clocking daily growth rates of more than 4 percent since July. During this same period, the national growth rate has been declining steadily, and now stands around 2.8 percent.

Since the beginning of July, the infection numbers in Bihar and Assam have grown by more than eight times, while in UP it has increased by five times. Similarly, TMC-ruled West Bengal has seen its numbers rise by more than four times during this period. At the same time, the number of fatalities in Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal have increased, and both the states have counted more than 2,200 deaths till now.

However, in Bihar and Assam, the death counts are relatively low in spite of the sharp rise in the number of cases. Bihar has recorded just 474 deaths till now, while in Assam, the number of deaths is 161.

In Assam's case, the ongoing spike can at least partially be attributed to the ramping up of COVID-19 tests in the state. However, despite a significant rise in the number of tests, the 'COVID-19 positivity rate' remains a manageable 3.20%.

Yesterday, the state logged nearly 1.5 lakh tests. Informing about this, the state's health and family welfare minister Himanta Biswa Sarma tweeted, "Inspired by our prime minister Narendra Modi, we have been continuously stepping up our #COVID testing. I am so proud to share that in the last 24 hours, team Assam carried out 143,109 tests. This takes the total test conducted in Assam to a record high of 15,73,800."

Apart from these 4 states where the growth in the number of cases has been steady and alarming, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka to the south of the subcontinent have also seen a dramatic rise in the last month and a half. At the same time, the numbers have dipped considerably in national capital New Delhi, an erstwhile hotspot.

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