Growth rate of COVID-19 cases in state has slowed: Rajasthan health minister

Rajasthan Health Minister Raghu Sharma said on Friday the state has ramped up its testing capacity, while the growth rate of the number of coronavirus cases in the state has slowed.

As many as 2,008 people have been tested positive for novel coronavirus in the state till Friday afternoon, of which 473 were cured. The state has also reported death of 32 COVID-19 patients.

"The growth rate of positive cases has come down in the state. The test results which are coming now are mostly of pending samples. Fresh positive cases are less now," the minister said.

Sharma said the state has increased its testing capacity to 5,000 tests per day and the target is to double it in the next few days.

A government official, referring to an assessment of the state health department, said the current growth rate of coronavirus cases in Rajasthan was less than what was projected.

"There has been a decrease in the growth rate after April 14. If we go by the growth rate during first phase of the lockdown (March 25 to April 14), the number of COVID-19 patients would have been 2,834 (on Thursday) during the second phase of the lockdown," the official said.

Accounting for nearly 38 per cent of the total cases in the state, Jaipur is one of the coronavirus hotspots in Rajasthan. Of the total 32 deaths, 17 are in Jaipur alone. The state capital has 761 COVID-19 patients, followed by Jodhur which has reported 310 cases so far.