On August 13, India’s active Covid-19 cases were 6,53,622, which was the lowest in the days to follow as in August second half and September, the number of active cases crosses eight lakh-mark. On October 26, the number of active cases dropped to 6,53,717, indicating a downward trend which has continued throughout the week. On November 1, India’s total active caseload stands at 5,70,458. The number of active cases dropped below the six lakh-mark in this week nearly after three months.

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“This sustained achievement is the result of collaborative action by States/UTs under the Centre’s strategy of comprehensive testing, timely tracking, quick hospitalization and adherence to the Standard Treatment Protocol which has ensured a standardised quality of medical care across the public and private hospitals and for the home isolation cases,” the health ministry said.

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However, the trend can’t be found in Kerala and Delhi. While Kerala reported a sudden spike in the number of daily infections in middle October — after Onam, Delhi reported a spike in the last week of October. In this week, Kerala officially surpassed Maharashtra to report highest single-day spike in Covid-19 cases. The test positivity rate in Delhi is a little over 11 per cent and in Delhi it is around 12 to 14 per cent.

Date-wise new cases reported from Delhi and Kerala in last week

October 25

Kerala: 6,843

Delhi: 4,136

October 26

Kerala: 4,287

Delhi: 2,832

October 27

Kerala: 5,457

Delhi: 4,853

October 28

Kerala: 8,790

Delhi: 5,673

October 29

Kerala: 7,020

Delhi: 5,739

October 30

Kerala: 6,638

Delhi: 5,891

October 31

Kerala: 7,983

Delhi: 5,062

Meanwhile, Delhi has taken another step towards unlocking after it allowed buses to ply with full capacity. The cap on the number of people attending wedding parties has also been relaxed ahead of the wedding season. Now 200 guests are allowed in Delhi weddings.

Kerala has also opened beaches, parks and museums for tourists from November 1. The staggered unlocking of public places, facilities is not being blamed for contributing to the number of Covid-19 cases in either of the states. The sudden spike has been attributed to festive season in both Delhi and Kerala, pollution and the onset of winter being other two conducive factors in Delhi.