NEW DELHI: Daily cases of Covid-19 in India fell below 50,000 on Saturday, just over three weeks after the third wave had peaked at nearly 3.5 lakh cases on January 20, with the rate of decline twice as sharp as in the second wave of the pandemic.
India reported 45,523 fresh cases on Saturday, the lowest since January 3, six days after daily cases had fallen below the 1-lakh mark, as per TOI's Covid database.
On Friday, the tally was 50,527. There were 402 deaths reported on Saturday, the fewest in 20 days.
The seven-day average of daily cases, a more reliable metric for measuring change, had peaked at 3.09 lakh on January 26. Seventeen days later, the average stands below 70,000, at 22.3% of the peak. A similar drop from the peak had taken 36 days in the second wave and 103 days in the first. This means the fall in cases after peaking has been twice as fast as in the second wave and six times faster than in the first.
Deaths have been falling in the past week, but at a slower pace. The seven-day average peaked in the third wave at 631 on February 5 and has since dipped 18% to 516.