Under-20 accounted for less than 12% of Covid cases in both waves: Centre

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Dismissing assumptions that children and the younger population were more affected in the second wave of Covid, the government on Tuesday said those in the 1-20 age group accounted for less than 12 per cent of the cases recorded during both the waves.

Those aged 1-20 years accounted for 11.62 per cent of the total cases during the second wave (March 15 to May 25) as against 11.31 per cent in the first wave (July 1 to December 31), indicating not much difference in the proportion of those infected in this age-group, according to the data shared by the government at a press conference.

The data showed that the 21-50 age group was the most affected category in both waves with the people from this category accounting for 59.74 per cent of the infections in the first wave as against 62.45 per cent in the second.

As for people aged above 61 years, the proportion was 13.89 per cent in the first wave and 12.58 in the second wave. Presenting age bifurcation of cases in first and second waves, Lav Agarwal, Joint Secretary in the Health Ministry, said the first wave saw 3.28 per cent cases coming from 1 to 10 years age group while it is 3.05 per cent in the second wave.

The age group 11-20 years accounted for 8.03 per cent in the first wave and 8.57 per cent in the second wave. Amid fears about the possibility of children getting more affected if a third wave comes, the government said there appears to be no substantial evidence to indicate there will be severe infection among them but then highlighted that people of all age groups need to stay vigilant and follow precautions.

Highlighting the improvement in the Covid situation in the country, Mr Agarwal further said that almost 85 per cent decline in daily new cases has been noted since the highest reported peak on May 7 and the number of districts reporting more than 100 daily cases have reduced from 531 as recorded in the week ending May 4 to 165 in the week ending June 13.

There has been a decline of 75.6 per cent from the peak of Covid active cases recorded on May 10 across the county.

At present, there are 20 states and union territories where the Covid active caseload is less than 5,000 and a drastic reduction is being noted in almost all states.