The spread of the Delta variant has increased the R-naught above 1 in India, up from 0.93 a month ago. R-naught represents the average number of people who will catch the infection from an infected individual.

The reproduction factor in India is currently at 1.01. A senior virologist from Vellore, Dr T Jacob John, said that this indicates that one person is able to infect more than one person. In the month of March, the R value in the country was around 1.4, while by May, when overall cases started to decline, it came down to around 0.7. As many as 10 states in the country have an R-value higher than the national average of 1.01. Delhi and Maharashtra both have an R-value of 1.01. Madhya Pradesh has an R-value of 1.31, the highest in the country, followed by Himachal Pradesh at 1.30 and Nagaland at 1.09… (ET Healthworld – TNN, August 7, 2021)