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<ul><li>India recorded a single-day rise of 10,158 coronavirus cases on Thursday. </li><li>The daily positivity rate was recorded at 4.42% while the weekly positivity rate was 4.02%. </li><li>The demand for booster doses has also gone up in the last few weeks, and the country is administering a few hundred shots per day. </li><li>Kerala, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and more states have made masks mandatory in public places and UP has also re-started screening international travellers. </li></ul>India recorded a single-day rise of 10,158 coronavirus cases, the highest in nearly eight months, according to the Union Health Ministry data. The number of active cases has increased to 44,998, the data updated on Thursday showed. India had reported 7,830 coronavirus infections on Wednesday. The daily positivity rate was recorded at 4.42% while the weekly positivity rate was 4.02%. The active cases now constitute 0.1% of the total infections. The nationwide Covid-19 recovery rate has been recorded at 98.7%, according to the health ministry website. The case fatality rate was recorded at 1.19%. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease rose to 4,42,10,127. According to the ministry's website, 220.66 crore doses of Covid vaccine have been administered in the country. The demand for booster doses has also gone up in the last few weeks. The country has been administering a few hundred booster vaccine shots per day in the last few weeks and there are 146 active vaccination sites across the country. Adar Poonawalla, chief executive officer of Serum Institute of India, which is one of world’s largest vaccine manufacturers, said that the company was re-starting the production of Covidshield vaccine. He said the company already has six million booster doses of Covovax vaccine available and adults must take the booster shot. "Just as a precaution, at risk we have done it so that people have Covishield as a choice if they want it," Poonawalla told PTI on restarting manufacturing of the vaccine. He further said Serum Institute of India will make 6-7 million doses of Covishield available in 90 days and it could take up to nine months to further build up the stock based on demand. The company had stopped manufacturing Covishield in December 2021. Mask mandates come back To tackle the growing number of Covid infections, state governments have taken various measures – including advising the elderly, comorbid and pregnant women to mask up. In the same month last year, the government relaxed its mask norms, and made them optional instead of mandatory. Kerala, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and more states have made masks mandatory in public places and UP has also re-started screening international travellers. Mumbai municipality, on the other hand, has made masks mandatory for all — staff and visitors at civic hospitals. It has also advised senior citizens to mask up. Kerala, Maharashtra, Haryana and Gujarat have been reporting the highest number of cases in the last few weeks. As many as 68 people have passed away across the country in the last one week due to the disease. (With PTI inputs)

India’s fresh Covid cases shoot up to 8-month high, states issue mask guidelines

<ul><li>The financial capital city of India recorded four cases of <keyword id="13782418" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="omicron-ba-4" source="Orion">Omicron BA.4</keyword> and BA.5 subvariants.</li><li>All the four patients were under home-isolation and have recovered from the infection.</li><li>BA.4 and BA.5 sub variants of Omicron are highly transmissible, first detected in South Africa earlier this year.</li></ul>Maharashtra’s capital city reported three BA.4 and one BA.5 cases of Omicron sub variant. However, all the four patients have fully recovered, said the Maharashtra Health Department on June 13. Out of the four patients, two are 11-year-old girls, who are yet not eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine yet. The other two are men aged between 40-60 years. As per report, all the four cases were found between May 14 - 24 and were under home isolation. These two sub variants — BA.4 and BA.5 — are highly transmissible strains of Omicron which have already spread across 42 and 47 countries so far, respectively. The first case was detected in South Africa in the beginning of 2022. BA.4 and BA.5 are not new viruses and no severe cases of hospitalization have been reported in patients with these sub variants in any of the countries where the cases are surging. “Basically, Omicron took off from one branch of the genomic tree and these are the smaller branches of Omicron itself so they are not new viruses. We know that this virus is continuously adapting to the human host in order to escape our immunity and also to travel faster between people,” Dr Jayadevan, Indian Medical Association's national task force's co-chairman, told news agency ANI. As these are the sub variants of Omicron, no new symptoms are to be seen in these strains. Experts suggest that detection of new sub variants and rising cases in the country doesn’t necessarily mean a new wave or the fourth wave is afoot. Active cases in Maharashtra jumped by almost 241% from over 5,000 to 17,000 in the last ten days. According to the health department data, Maharashtra recorded 9,354 COVID-19 cases in May, out of which 5,980 were reported from Mumbai. Amid the surge in COVID-19 cases in Maharashtra, doctors and medical experts say that most of the patients are showing <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/maharashtra-active-covid-cases-jump-241-from-5-127-to-17-480-in-10-days-3063205">milder symptoms</a> and the rate of fatality is quite low as compared to the other waves. Union Health Minister Mandukh Mandaviya also asked the people to remain vigilant and keep following COVID measures as the pandemic is not yet over in the country. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="http://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/delhis-covid-positivity-rate-rises-citizens-are-taking-fewer-booster-doses-say-authorities/articleshow/92197709.cms">Delhi’s COVID positivity rate rises; citizens are taking fewer booster doses say authorities</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="http://www.businessinsider.in/careers/news/modi-government-to-fill-10-lakh-jobs-in-ministries-and-departments-to-tackle-rising-unemployment/articleshow/92202117.cms">Modi government to fill 10 lakh jobs in ministries and departments to tackle rising unemployment</a>

Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 sub-variants detected in Mumbai — here’s all you need to know

Union <keyword id="6356374" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="health-minister" source="Orion">Health Minister</keyword> Mansukh Mandaviya is scheduled to hold a virtual meeting with the Indian Medical Association (IMA) on Monday. The IMA informed that Mandaviya will hold the meeting via video conferencing at 4 pm regarding the <keyword id="15884888" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="covid-19-situation-and-preparedness" source="Orion">Covid-19 situation and preparedness</keyword>. On Saturday, Mandaviya said that the government has been working to control the <keyword id="8913021" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="spread-of-covid-19" source="Orion">spread of Covid-19</keyword> and urged the people to wear masks and follow covid appropriate behaviour. "We are working on alert mode to control the spread of Covid-19 and are conducting environmental, sewage and human surveillance. Virus RNA was found in the sewage samples in Delhi and Mumbai," Mandaviya had said. He further urged the people to wear masks, avoid crowded places and follow Covid-appropriate behaviour. The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Saturday decided to hold mock drills at all health facilities across the country on December 27 in the wake of the COVID alarm due to a surge in infection in many countries. This is to ensure readiness in the availability of oxygen support, and ICU beds among other preparedness measures in case of a surge of COVID cases in India. According to the Ministry, the objective of the exercise is to ensure the operational readiness of these health facilities for the management of COVID. Detailing the focus on the parameters during the mock drills, it said that the main focus will be on the bed capacities including isolation, oxygen-supported and ICU beds at the health facilities. Prime Minister Narendra Modi also chaired a high-level meeting on Thursday (December 22) to assess the COVID-19 situation in the country and cautioned against complacency while laying stress on testing and strengthening the surveillance measures, especially at international airports. He emphasized COVID-appropriate behavior at all times, especially in view of the upcoming festive season, including wearing masks in crowded public places. Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Union Health Miniter Mansukh Mandaviya and NITI Aayog Chief Executive Officer Parameswaran Iyer were among others who participated in the meeting. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/environment/news/bsip-study-mangroves-shrinking-in-india-due-to-climate-change/articleshow/96511070.cms">BSIP Study: Mangroves shrinking in India due to climate change</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/pm-modi-tells-people-to-be-vigilant-as-covid-cases-were-rising-in-many-countries/articleshow/96493073.cms">PM Modi tells people to be vigilant as Covid cases were rising in many countries</a>

Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya to hold meeting with Indian Medical Association today

After scary <keyword id="8764262" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="covid" source="Orion">Covid</keyword> warnings by almost every agency for the last two years, there’s finally some good news, the World Health Organization said — ‘that an <keyword id="15062230" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="end-is-in-sight-for-Covid" source="Orion">end is in sight for Covid</keyword>. It’s a relief to people wanting to go back to the ‘old ways’ but like many predicted since the pandemic, a lot that has changed will stay on. The pandemic created billionaires out of two <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/gautam-adani-mukesh-ambani-account-for-59-of-indias-top-10-billionaires-wealth/articleshow/94348058.cms">teenagers</a>, who banked on the people wanting to order groceries online. Why didn’t I think of it? <div type="image" title="The pandemic created billionaires out of two teenagers in grocery business" msid="94388134" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;The pandemic created billionaires out of two teenagers in grocery business&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> What has changed, though, is a lot more people have stopped wearing masks as public health experts suggest that COVID-19 has<a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/india/covid-is-endemic-but-its-not-time-yet-to-take-off-that-mask/articleshow/94085484.cms"> become</a> endemic in India. <div type="image" title="People have stopped wearing mask in public places" msid="94388315" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;People have stopped wearing mask in public places&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> But looking beyond the obvious, here are some things which won’t end even after COVID does. Revenge shopping and tourism Revenge shopping continues to remain strong 30 months after India entered its first nationwide COVID-19 lockdown. According to a Business Insider India report, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/ecommerce/news/online-festival-sales-likely-to-be-28-higher-than-pre-covid-levels-at-11-8-billion-report/articleshow/94076810.cms">online festival sales that Amazon, Flipkart and other retailers are running could touch nearly $12 billion</a> – an increase of 28% over pre-pandemic levels. Apparently, people have enough money on their hands and don’t know of better ways to spend it. People like WFH – and so does the PM The pandemic has made work from home-ers out of everyone. Now, that people have gotten used to working while lying down and chopping vegetables during Zoom calls — they don’t wanna go back. Companies are, however, trying to drag them and it’s gonna be a slow process. Three out of four companies however are considering going hybrid – but India Inc remains divided on the aspect. One thing is for certain, though – WFH is here to stay, even if companies continue to crack down on moonlighting. And it’s got the blessings of PM Modi himself who said it’s a good idea to bring more women into the workforce. Rich get richer, and they hate the poor people moonlighting Thanks to the many stimulus packages, the rich got richer across the world — creating pandemic billionaires like India’s own Gautam Adani — who <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/gautam-adani-mukesh-ambani-account-for-59-of-indias-top-10-billionaires-wealth/articleshow/94348058.cms">added ₹1,612 crore to his wealth every day in the last year</a>. The pandemic was tougher on daily wagers and depleted the savings of many lower middle class and middle class people too. Their situation won’t change soon and neither will the gap between the proletariat and bourgeoisie. <div type="image" title="Migrant labourers during first wave of COVID" height="900" width="1200" msid="94388736" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Migrant labourers during first wave of COVID&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> Psst psst – there were also pandemic salary cuts – some were re-instated and some weren’t. The inflation however grew at a sharp place forcing people to take up side hustles and more. And no, no, the rich don’t like it when their employees moonlighting to make some more. Rishad Premji recently <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/information-tech/wipro-fires-300-staff-members-found-to-be-moonlighting-for-competitors/articleshow/94349603.cms">fired</a> 300 employees who were found doing second jobs after slugging it out 9-5 for Wipro. Children lose 2 trillion hours of in-person schooling – and immunity What about the kids? Staying indoors for two years – was trying for parents and kids alike. It’s not just the play time that the kids lost. They lost two precious years of learning too, especially poorer kids who couldn’t get online. A UNICEF<a href="https://data.unicef.org/covid-19-and-children/"> report</a> states that globally, 2 trillion hours of in-person schooling were lost. Another<a href="https://healtheducationresources.unesco.org/library/documents/hidden-impact-covid-19-childrens-education"> </a>UNESCO <a href="https://healtheducationresources.unesco.org/library/documents/hidden-impact-covid-19-childrens-education">report</a> says that the learning levels of children is lower as nearly 1 in 3 parents said they couldn’t support their child’s learning. And they will take a long time to catch up. <div type="image" title="Children lose 2 trillion hours of in-person schooling – and immunity" height="900" width="1200" msid="94388905" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Children lose 2 trillion hours of in-person schooling &amp;#8211; and immunity&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> The kids are also weaker health-wise according to experts – especially the kids below 10 years of age. They had spent their immunity building years as they stayed safe indoors, according to a<a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8087417/"> study</a>. Heart ailments and diabetes cases skyrocket in India After playing mind games, COVID is also affecting our hearts. The infection has kicked a lot of people into early diabetes and they also face an increased risk of heart ailments, says a <a href="https://www.bmj.com/content/378/bmj.o1838">study</a>. The health issues that it has caused the millions it affected, not including those still suffering from long COVID effects – will also stay on. Demanding movie goers are here to say Where did people get entertainment during the pandemic? Most governments in fact sent messages asking people to ‘stay home and Netflix’. They did, and OTT subscriptions soared. As they did so, they got used to layered stories in web series, subtle allegories and more. Now used to the ‘new-age entertainment’, they don’t want to go back to song and dance routine ‘basic’ movies and want something good enough to pull ‘em off their TVs and tabs. According to analyst reports and trade figures, 15 out of 20 Bollywood movies released in the first half of 2022 have tanked. So much so that producers are confused and Bhushan Kumar of T-Series <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-62145780">said</a> there’s confusion among producers and they don’t know what will and will not work. People want large scale entertainment like RRR, but with a twist. These demanding audiences are not going to go away soon either. <div type="image" title="People want large scale entertainment like RRR, but with a twist" msid="94389873" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;People want large scale entertainment like RRR, but with a twist&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> Smaller weddings If people don’t want to step out to a theater without a good reason, they aren’t too keen on inviting unwanted people either. There has been a rush of weddings this year – but because of guest list restrictions and many people not keen on traveling out of town — the Big Fat Indian weddings are smaller. A few millennials and GenZ have caught on this trend too and some prefer it that way. Your dad can’t force you to invite the damad of your mom’s tauji’s cousin sister anymore. Condom sales halve, but where are the pandemic babies? Lack of socializing during COVID lockdowns killed half the sales of condom makers, according to the government’s response to an RTI query recently. While experts feared this would lead to a baby boom, birth rates in India’s financial capital Mumbai<a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/no-baby-boom-mumbai-birth-rate-fell-in-2021/articleshow/92323729.cms"> fell</a> in 2021. Whether it was due to COVID worries or strong pull-out game, either way, experts’ fears did not come true. Here’s hoping that won’t change soon either. Inflation skyrockets – and central banks are struggling to control it Inflation has skyrocketed around the world for multiple reasons – the US flooded the markets with an unprecedented amount of dollars, exporting its inflation all over the world. The supply chain issues worsened the availability of products, while consumers went on a revenue shopping spree post-COVID. This demand and supply imbalance further increased prices – and now<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/finance/banks/news/race-for-rate-hikes-heres-how-much-central-banks-have-hiked-interest-rates-in-2022/slidelist/94344108.cms"> central banks all over the world are hiking interest rates</a> to bring inflation under control. That means the cheap home loan party might be over – and it won’t go back soon either. <div type="image" title="Inflation has skyrocketed around the world" msid="94389450" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Inflation has skyrocketed around the world&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> Supply chain shocks become the norm Supply chain shocks have become the norm in the post-COVID world. China, the factory of the world, has continued with its stringent “Zero COVID” policy and that has hampered plenty of industries around the world. <div type="image" title="Car makers like Mahindra are asking their customers to wait for as long as 16 months for cars like XUV 700" msid="94389477" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Car makers like Mahindra are asking their customers to wait for as long as 16 months for cars like XUV 700&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> The semiconductor chip shortage is the most glaring example, and it has not only affected the electronics industry, but also automobiles – some car makers like Mahindra are asking their customers to wait for as long as 16 months for cars like XUV 700. What is not going to change for you when COVID ends? Here’s hoping your love for getting news online won’t change either!

SIMPLY PUT: What won’t end even after COVID does?

The <keyword id="6355999" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="ai" source="Orion">AI</keyword> classifiers trained on audio recordings cannot accurately predict whether someone has Covid-19 by analysing the sound of their coughs, according to the study led by the UK's <keyword id="7138111" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="alan-turing-institute" source="Orion">Alan Turing Institute</keyword>. As first reported in a paper from researchers led by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, there were claims that AI could detect the difference in cough sounds between those with and without Covid-19 with up to 98.5 per cent accuracy, reports The Register. The result led to efforts to build an app powered by the algorithms to provide people with a cheap and easy method to test for the novel coronavirus. The Department of Health and Social Care in the UK even went so far as to award Fujitsu two contracts totalling more than 1,00,000 pounds to develop the government's so-called "Cough In A Box" initiative in 2021, according to the report. The software would collect audio recordings of coughs from users to analyse on its Covid-19 app. Researchers from The Alan Turing Institute and Royal Statistical Society, commissioned by the <keyword id="11923364" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="uk-health-security-agency" source="Orion">UK Health Security Agency</keyword>, conducted an independent review of audio-based AI tech as a Covid-19 screening tool. They found that even the most accurate cough-detecting model outperformed a model based on user-reported systems and demographic data like age and gender. The researchers examined data from over 67,000 people recruited through the National Health Service's Test and Trace and REACT-1 programmes, which asked participants to send back Covid-19 nose and throat swab test results as well as recordings of them coughing, breathing, and talking. In an attempt to see whether coughs could be used as a biomarker, the researchers trained an AI model based on audio recordings and test results, said the report. "But as we continued to analyse the results, it appeared that the accuracy was likely due to an effect in statistics called confounding -- where models learn other variables which correlate with the true signal, as opposed to the true signal itself," <keyword id="16540552" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="kieran-baker" source="Orion">Kieran Baker</keyword>, a statistics PhD student at King's College London and research assistant at the Alan Turing Institute, was quoted as saying. The confounding was caused by the Test and Trace system's recruitment bias, which required participants to have at least one symptom in order to participate. The researchers conducted additional tests, pairing participants of similar ages and genders, with only one having Covid-19, the report mentioned. "When we evaluated these models on the matched data, the models failed to perform well, and so we conclude that our models cannot detect a Covid-19 bio-acoustic marker from this data," Baker said. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/careers/news/bengaluru-mumbai-sunshine-locations-for-hiring-in-q4-teamlease-report/articleshow/97919259.cms">Bengaluru, Mumbai sunshine locations for hiring in Q4: Teamlease report</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/mobile/news/oneplus-11-india-price-launch-offers-specs-and-everything-you-need-to-know/articleshow/97904720.cms">OnePlus 11 India price, launch offers, specs and everything you need to know</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/twitter-blue-launched-in-india-pricing-what-it-offers-and-should-you-subscribe/articleshow/97756303.cms">Twitter Blue launched in India – pricing, what it offers, and should you subscribe?</a>

AI performs poorly in detecting Covid by listening to cough says a UK-based study

<ul><li>The rising <keyword id="8785701" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="covid-19-cases" source="Orion">COVID-19 cases</keyword> are raising concerns mainly in southern states and Maharashtra with the highest number of daily cases.</li><li>As per the Health Ministry’s data, around 4,500 new COVID-19 cases have been reported in the last 24 hours with 9 fatalities.</li><li>There is a rise in the weekly positivity rate from 0.52% on the week ending 27th March to 0.73% on the week ending June 3, 2022.</li></ul>The COVID-19 graph tally is hitting a three-month high as over 4,000 new cases are being reported in the past 4-5 days. The spiking cases are raising concerns mainly in some southern states and Maharashtra recording the highest number of daily cases. As per the Health Ministry’s data, around 4,500 new COVID-19 cases have been reported in the last 24 hours with 9 fatalities. The country has currently over 25,000 active cases. The central government, on Friday, June 3, asked these five states — Kerala, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, and Karnataka — to closely monitor the sudden surge in COVID-19 cases. Rajesh Bhushan, Union Health secretary asked the states, in a letter, to continue implementation of necessary measures to effectively tackle the upsurge in COVID-19 cases. Bhushan said, “from past 1 week, a slight upsurge in cases being noticed with 15,708 cases being reported in a week ending 27th May 2022 rising to 21,055 cases reported in a week ending June 3, 2022. Also, there is a rise in weekly positivity rate from 0.52% on the week ending 27th March to 0.73% in a week ending on June 3, 2022.” “It is essential that all the states maintain a strict watch and take pre-emptive action if required to control any emerging spread of infection,” he added. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Maharashtra and Kerala are reporting more than 1200 new cases daily" comment="subhead" text="Maharashtra and Kerala are reporting more than 1200 new cases daily">Maharashtra and Kerala are reporting more than 1200 new cases daily</cmsannotation> The number of cases in Maharashtra has <a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/covid-cases-across-maharashtra-rise-10-in-mumbai-by-8-in-one-day/articleshow/92026201.cms">reportedly</a> risen by 10%, while cases in Mumbai rose by 8% on Sunday (June 5) as compared to Saturday (June 4). Maharashtra reported 1357 new cases in the span of 24 hours. Similarly in Kerala, the test positivity rate went above 10% in 101 days on June 5 with 1544 new cases being reported as compared to June 4, increasing to 11.39%. Ernakulam, Thiruvananthapuram and Kottayam are some districts reporting the maximum surge in the state. It should be noted that the rate of hospitalisation is relatively low across both the states as compared to the second and third waves in the country. As of June 4, the total number of persons hospitalised is 212, while new admissions were 60 in Kerala. So far, Maharashtra has inoculated 16.7 crore COVID-19 vaccine, including 9.1 crore administered at least one dose, and 7.4 crore fully vaccinated. Kerala has administered 5.5 crore people with the COVID-19 vaccine so far. SEE ALSO <a class="tout-title-link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/finance/news/why-a-rate-hike-is-not-all-bad-news-for-you-and-how-you-can-take-advantage-of-rising-interest-rates/articleshow/92029328.cms">Why a rate hike is not all bad news for you – and how you can take advantage of rising interest rates</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/mobile/news/nothing-phone-1-display-specifications-leaked-ahead-of-launch-heres-everything-we-know-so-far/articleshow/92029049.cms">Nothing phone (1) display specifications leaked ahead of launch - here's everything we know so far</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/apps/news/best-upcoming-whatsapp-features-edit-messages-recover-deleted-messages-polls-cover-photos-and-more/articleshow/91987176.cms">Best upcoming WhatsApp features – edit messages, recover deleted messages, polls, cover photos and more</a>

COVID-19 cases are on a rise in India — Maharashtra and Kerala reporting the highest surge in cases

<ul><li>The worst-hit Indian state, Maharashtra, may be on the verge of having the second wave of COVID-19 under control. </li><li>Data shows that the number of active cases has plateaued over the last two weeks and has been on the downturn for the last two days. </li><li>Dr Marcus Ranney opines that this is an encouraging indicator, but is in no way a signal to think that Maharasthra is out of the woods just yet. </li></ul> Maharashtra is the worst-hit state in India with over 4.23 million cases in total and over 63,000 deaths, so far. In March, the state accounted for 60% of the overall cases in the country. After lockdown-like restrictions were enforced across the state on April 4, the number of active cases in the state seems to have plateaued. “There has definitely been a mentality shift in the last 24 hours as compared to 72 hours ago when everyone was panicking. As a fraternity, we seem to feel that we’re slowly getting on top of this,” Dr Marcus Ranney, founder and chief executive of Human Edge, told Business Insider. According to him, there’s been an uptake in the number of oxygen liquidation tanks coming in and more home concentrator devices being delivered through citizen-led efforts. Even Remdesivir is more in stock than before — but it’s way too early to celebrate. <div type="javascript" title="Custom" contenttype="Image"><cdata><![CDATA[<div class="flourish-embed flourish-chart" data-src="visualisation/5966600"></div>]]></cdata></div> The state’s daily increase of new cases of COVID-19 has remained in the 60,000s for the last two weeks. This is the longest period of stability since the second wave of infections took hold in February 2021. But it’s only been negative for two days, as of April 26. <div type="ExtQuote" text="“It’s way too early to celebrate, absolutely way too early.”" auname="Dr Marcus Ranney, health expert, founder and CEO of Human Edge"></div> And the positivity rate — the number of people testing positive as a proportion of the total number of COVID-19 tests being conducted — has also only been decreasing for two days. <div type="javascript" title="Custom" contenttype="Image"><cdata><![CDATA[<div class="flourish-embed flourish-chart" data-src="visualisation/5967402"></div>]]></cdata></div> <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="What will indicate Maharashtra’s exit from the second wave of COVID-19?" comment="subhead" text="What will indicate Maharashtra’s exit from the second wave of COVID-19?">What will indicate Maharashtra’s exit from the second wave of COVID-19?</cmsannotation> “A useful metric would be the time needed to get a patient a bed when required. That creates a lot of anxiety in the system,” said Ranney. According to him, if a patient doesn’t need a bed immediately, a doctor normally recommends trying to treat symptoms at home. But that also means that a bed should be available if the need arises. Due to the shortage of beds, some doctors and patients may preemptively put in a request for a bed and clog the system even more, on the possibility that their loved one ‘may’ need to be admitted into the hospital. According to a team of researchers from the Institute of Mathematical Sciences in Chennai (IMSC), there may be one other factor to watch as well — the transmission rate. Their data shows that Maharashtra has seen its transmission rate fall from 1.38 in mid-February to around 1.13 as of April 25, IMSC’s Sitabhra Sinha told <a href="https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/pune/a-ray-in-covid-dark-dip-in-mumbai-curve-shows-plateau-in-maharashtra-cases-7287807/">Indian Express</a>. A transmission rate of 1.13 means that for every 100 COVID-19 patients, the disease is being transmitted to another 113 people. The lower the value of transmission, the slower the disease is spreading through the population. Mumbai, in particular, has shown marked improvement with its daily case count steadily declining over the last two weeks. On April 24, the financial capital of India reported 5,867 new infections — the lowest it has been this month. Pune, which has the second-highest number of cases in all of India, reported more than 10,000 new cases on April 24. But that’s lower than its record-high of 12,825 cases on April 17. The central government, on Saturday, approved a supply of 4,35,000 vials of Remdesivir to Maharashtra till April 30, according to ANI. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/sundar-pichai-and-satya-nadella-will-use-google-and-microsoft-resources-and-technology-to-support-india-during-the-covid19-crisis/articleshow/82253126.cms">From Sundar Pichai to Satya Nadella – Indian-Americans wake up to the COVID-19 crisis at home</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/health/news/maharashtra-kerala-and-chhattisgarh-states-are-on-top-covid-19-positivity-rate-in-india/articleshow/82254421.cms">COVID-19: These are the five states in India with the highest positivity rates</a>

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