Good News: Nagpur Rural registers ‘R Value’ of 0.85 for COVID-19
   Date :25-Oct-2020

Nagpur Rural registers_1&
 
 
By Kartik Lokhande :
 
The ‘R0’ or ‘R Naught’ or ‘R Value’ or ‘Reproduction Value’ indicates number of persons infected by an already infected person. It helps in calculating the rate of transmission or decline of diseases
 
 
AFTER a roller coaster ride of over seven months, as far as COVID-19 infection is concerned, a good news has come the way of Nagpur Rural. After much number-crunching and analysis, the researchers have calculated the ‘R0’ or ‘R Value’ for COVID-19 to be at 0.85, that is, well below 1. ‘R0’ or ‘R Naught’ or ‘R Value’ or ‘Reproduction Value’ indicates number of persons infected by an already infected person. It helps in calculating the rate of transmission or decline of diseases.
 
It is useful especially in cases of pandemics like COVID-19 and guides the policy-makers. Yogesh Kumbhejkar, Chief Executive Officer of Zilla Parishad, Nagpur, told ‘The Hitavada’ that the ‘R Naught’ for Nagpur Rural (excluding city of Nagpur) was 0.85 as per the latest calculations. Prof Sanjay Zodpey, Vice-President (Academics), Public Health Foundation of India, and Director of Indian Institute of Public Health, spearheaded the data analysis to arrive at the ‘R Naught’ for Nagpur Rural. Prof Zodpey is guiding the administration in sero surveillance too.
 
“R Value for Nagpur Rural has been below 1. Our effort will be to maintain it below 1 and ensure that infection rate does not increase,” said Kumbhejkar. It means that one patient can infect less than one person and is considered a good sign. According to him, the doubling rate of COVID-19 infection also had improved to 105 days in rural areas of Nagpur district. Doubling rate is the number of days taken for COVID-19 cases to double. As far as COVID-19 situation in Nagpur Rural is concerned, it has registered 20,127 cases so far. There have been total 548 deaths. The cumulative number of patients recovered from COVID-19 stood at 17,987 as on Saturday (October 24).
 
As on Saturday, there were total 2,051 active cases in Nagpur Rural. In Nagpur Rural, the district administration and Zilla Parishad administration have been implementing ‘My Family, My Responsibility’ campaign effectively. In rural parts of the district, the administration claimed to have reached out to 21,88,804 persons out of total rural population of 23,17,034. It is a massive health surveillance campaign. Now, the second phase of the campaign is being implemented in rural areas. As per some reports, COVID-19 ‘R Value’ of India was 0.90 in the week that ended on October 19-20. It had dipped from 0.92 a week earlier. The same reports mentioned that Maharashtra’s ‘R Value’ rose slightly to 0.88 that week, from 0.84 a week earlier. Since September 18, ‘R Value’ for the country has been below 1.