R FACTOR AND COVID-19

Edited by, SNEHA MAVIS

Covid-19 infection is on the rise again in a few States across the country. Experts are concerned that this might trigger a devastating third wave. The rising R-value in Kerala and some North eastern states such as Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, and Tripura has sparked concerned across the country. According to the health ministry, this could lead to another outbreak.

The R-factor(reproductive rate) measures the rate at which COVID infection spreads across the country. It is a mathematical representation that functions as an indicator of how quickly the infection spreads.

An R-value of 0.90 indicates that on average, every 100 infected people will infect 90 other people. If the R-value is less than 1, it means that the number of newly infected people will be less than the number of people who were previously infected. This suggests that the number of coronavirus cases is declining. If the R-value is more than one, however the number of infected cases increases in each phase, eventually leading to an epidemic.

From 0.78 on June 30 to 0.88 in the first week of July, the R-value has increased. This revealed that the number of cases in various areas of the country is increasing. Kerala saw a significant increase in instances, according to the study and it's R-value is near 1. The R-value for coronavirus has increased in India, according to researchers at the Chennai based institute of mathematical sciences (IMSc).