Daily COVID-19 cases in India less than half of September peak; a look at figures since lockdown

India crossed 80 lakh confirmed COVID-19 cases on 28 October while the number of deaths crossed the grim figure of 1 lakh 20 thousand a day later. The country, however, has been seeing a drop in daily cases since past few days, with the health ministry on Saturday reporting 48,648 fresh infections. The latest figure is less than half of the daily cases the Central Government had reported during the peak in September. India had reported its highest daily cases tally of 97,860 on 16 September. On Friday, the total number of active cases in India went below 6 lakh and remained so even on Saturday. Recoveries have been rising as well. A day after the peak in daily cases, India’s recoveries exceeded the number of cases reported on 17 September – this was the second time this had occurred after the country went into lockdown on 24 March. India’s recoveries had exceeded daily confirmed cases for the first time on 29 May. On 21 September, India had reported over lakh recoveries, the highest as of today. As of Saturday, recoveries As of Saturday, the total number of recoveries has crossed 74 lakh (7,432,829 to be exact). According to the health ministry, the national recovery rate is currently at present 91.34 percent. Here’s a look at India’s cases as reported in the last seven months after the lockdown came to effect on 24 March and since restrictions began easing in June. Based on current reported figures, the first wave of COVID-19 pandemic in India seems to be nearing a slowdown. However, the fall in daily cases has come amid allegations of state governments “ controlling COVID-19 testing” in private labs to “show reduced numbers of cases due to pressure on them to show lower infections than others”. The fall in daily cases also come ahead of the winter season and the ongoing festive season and the first public acceptance from the Central Government that India is seeing community transmission of COVID-19. With restaurants, shopping malls, and cinema halls already open and schools resuming in several states from next month, the winter season is likely to be a litmus test for India’s COVID-19 strategy.