COVID-19 R-value above 1 in five states is cause for concern: Centre

The Centre said that the reproduction number or R number more than 1 in Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh - which remains a cause of concern.

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New Delhi: The Centre on Tuesday said that around 37 districts across nine states have registerd a rise in the average daily new COVID-19 cases over the last two weeks even as the corresponding nationwide figure continues to decline.

At a press briefing, officials of the Union Health Ministry said the reproduction number or R number more than 1 in Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh - which remains a cause of concern.

Joint Secretary in the Union Health Ministry Lav Agarwal said, "37 districts across nine states -- Kerala (11 districts), Tamil Nadu (7), Himachal Pradesh (6), Karnataka (5), Andhra Pradesh (2), Maharashtra (2), West Bengal (2), Meghalaya (1) and Mizoram (1) -- are still showing rising trend in daily new COVID-19 cases during the last two weeks."

While, Andhra Pradesh, Goa and Nagaland have their reproduction number at 1, for India, it is around 1. 

"If we look at the overall picture, we are hovering with a reproduction number of around 1 and it is more than 1 in some states. An increasing trend is a cause for concern," he said.

The Reproduction number or Rt refers to how many people an infected person infects on average. In other words, it can tell how efficiently a virus is spreading.