Covid-19 Has Had A Greater Impact On Men: Health Ministry

Covid-19 has had a greater impact on men, Health Ministry officials said. About 45 per cent of victims who succumbed to Covid-19 in the country were under 60 years of age while 70 per cent of total fatalities due to the disease were reported in men, officials said on Tuesday.

Addressing a press conference, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said about 63 per cent of the total cases were reported in men.

"Eight per cent cases have been reported in those under 17 years, 13 per cent in the 18-25 years age group, 39 per cent in 26-44 years age group, 26 per cent in 45-60 years age group and 14 per cent cases above 60 years," he said.

About 55 per cent of Covid-19 deaths were reported in those aged 60 and above, 33 per cent in the age group of 45 to 60 years, 10 per cent in the age group of 26-44 years and one per cent each in those aged between 18-25 years and in those below 17 years, Bhushan said.

Officials also said that Covid-19 vaccines will work against new coronavirus variants adding that there is no evidence to prove that the new variant found in the UK increases the severity of disease.

“There’s no evidence that current vaccines will fail to protect one against new variants of coronavirus reported in the UK or South Africa,” officials said.

Officials also said that the active Covid-29 caseload in the country slipped to 2.7 lakh, for the first time in six months, while the cumulative positivity rate stands at 6.02 per cent.

"Five states and UTs which account for 60 per cent of total active Covid-19 cases are Maharashtra, Kerala, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh," Bhushan said.

He further added that India's rate of cases per million population -- at 7,408 -- is among the lowest in the world while the number of deaths per million population stood at 107.

In the last seven days, 110 new cases and two deaths per million population have been reported while the number of active cases per million has been registered at 194, Bhushan added.