Covid-19: R-value exceeds 2 in Delhi, Mumbai; indicates faster spread of coronavirus

Mumbai, Dec 30: Amid rising Omicron fears, the R-value', which indicates how rapidly the virus is spreading, has crossed two in Delhi and Mumbai, researchers said on Thursday, as per news agency PTI.

According to Sitabhra Sinha, who led the study, the R-value of Delhi stood at 2.54 between December 23-29, while for Mumbai it was 2.01 between December 23-28. Both these cities have seen an exponential rise in cases.

The Reproduction number or R indicates how many people a Covid-infected person infects on average. In other words, it tells how 'efficiently' a virus is spreading. An R-value of less than 1 denotes that the disease is on the decline. Conversely, if R is greater than 1, it means the number of infected people is increasing in each round -- technically it becomes the epidemic phase'.

Chennai, Pune, Bengaluru and Kolkata have R-value (or reproduction number) of over 1, as per the data study by the researchers of the Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Chennai.

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," PTI quotes Sinha as saying.

The national capital registered a huge jump in daily cases as it reported 923 new Covid-19 cases, the highest since May 30 and 86 per cent up from a day earlier.

After six months, the positivity rate in Delhi crossed 1 per cent (1.29 per cent). Delhi reported 91 new COVID-19 cases on December 20, but the figure climbed to 923 on Wednesday. The COVID-19 positivity rate in Delhi thus jumped to 1.29 per cent from 0.19 per cent between December 23 and December 29.

Likewise, Mumbai on Wednesday reported 2,510 Covid-19 cases, the highest daily addition since May 8, 2021. On December 20, only 283 cases had been reported in the commercial capital of the country, whereas on Tuesday the financial capital of the country recorded 1,377 cases, and on Wednesday the figure went up by 80 per cent. PTI