COVID Third Wave Fear: R-Value Rises In Odisha And 10 Other States

New Delhi: Omicron cases in India zoomed past 200 on Wednesday, adding fuel to the theory that a third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic is round the corner.

How has the increase in cases of the new variant of coronavirus affected the R-value, which reflects the transmissibility of the virus?

Analysing COVID cases in different states, epidemiologist Dr Giridhar Babu said that of late, R-value of COVID-19 infection has gone up significantly in a number of states after going down in November and early December, reported Hindustan Times.

Odisha is one of them, having seen its R-value rise from 0.8 to 0.94 in the week ending December 19. An R-value of 1 means one COVID-infected person can spread the infection to another person.

Interestingly, Odisha’s R-value had climbed to 1.04 during the week from November 23-29, but had come down subsequently.

The other states which have seen R-value increase in the previous week are Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Uttarakhand, Tripura, Tamil Nadu, Assam, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh, West Bengal, Manipur and Nagaland.

Of these, 8 states have an R-value of more than 1.

As for the country as a whole, R-value as of December 19 stands at 0.89.