Has India successfully tamed coronavirus?

The world is currently struggling owing to the COVID-19 pandemic. The United Kingdom is currently under a lockdown, the United States continues to remain the hardest-hit country, and France is staring at another emergency.

On the other hand is India. Schools are being reopened, vaccines are being rolled out, almost as if the pandemic is over.

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Is the worst behind us? Is India now immune to COVID-19?

In terms of numbers, India's caseload is shrinking rapidly, and hospital beds in major cities continue to remain empty. In September last year, India was reporting one lakh cases every day, which remained the average for a long time.

This month, that number is down to 10,000. Every key indicator now says the numbers have dropped in India. India's recovery rate is more than 97 per cent, among the highest in the world.

By last week, daily deaths had dropped to less than 100, which has now become the seven days rolling average. Less than 100 deaths a day are not ideal, but way better than September or October last year when India was reporting more than 1,000 deaths a day.

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More than half of India's states are not reporting any deaths from COVID-19. The number of deaths per million stands at 112. In the United States and the United Kingdom, more than 1,000 people have died per million.

On February 15, 2021 - 33 states and union territories have less than 5,000 cases, which marks a significant reduction in cases. In addition, no one has died in 18 states and union territories in India. The bulk of the cases right now is limited to just three states - Kerala, Maharashtra, and Karnataka. Together they account for close to 77 per cent of India's total active cases today.

What explains India's recovery? Is India just testing less?
The answer is no - the number of tests has not gone down. On February 4, 2021, more than seven lakh Indians were tested. 700,000 in a day is 7.5 times more than the number of people tested in May 2020.