Covid 19 and India
This is a collection of articles archived for the excellence of their content. |
An overview
2020
December 25, 2020: The Times of India
From: December 25, 2020: The Times of India
11 months of ups and downs in India’s battle against Covid
The peaks of 90,000+ daily cases appear far behind now, but as the new year beckons, India has a wary eye open for a new strain. Atul Thakur charts the course of the virus since the first case in January
India reported its first Covid-19 case on January 30 when an Indian student in Wuhan tested positive upon her return to Kerala. Through February, though, India added only two more cases, taking the country's cumulative total to three cases and zero deaths.
The coronavirus’ real onslaught began in March — within the first 10 days, many large states began reporting cases. Delhi, Rajasthan and Telangana reported their first cases on March 2, followed by Haryana and Uttar Pradesh on March 4. Separated by thousands of kilometres both Tamil Nadu and Ladakh reported their first case on March 7. On March 9, Jammu & Kashmir, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Punjab reported positive cases. By March-end, 27 of the 36 states and UTs had reported positive cases. India also saw its first Covid-19 deaths on March 13, when both Delhi and Karnataka reported their first fatalities. By the end of the month, 13 states had witnessed Covid deaths.
Indians spent most of April under one of the world’s strictest lockdowns, but cases kept crawling up. From little over a thousand, India’s cumulative Covid case count went up to over 33,000 by April-end. The death toll also crossed the 1,000-mark in April. By the end of the month, Sikkim, Nagaland, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu and Lakshadweep were the only ones yet to report cases.
Cases breached the one-lakh threshold in May. The month also saw cumulative deaths cross the 5,000-mark. But even by the end of the month, 12 states and UTs, including Ladakh, Tripura, Puducherry, Goa, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Sikkim, Manipur and Mizoram were yet to report their first deaths.
But Covid unleashed its full force during the first phase of unlocking in June and cases raced from 1.8 lakh to 5.6 lakh over the course of the month. Cumulative deaths, too, rose from 5,164 on May 31 to 16,893 on June 30. The rapid increase in both cases and deaths continued in July and August. From over 5 lakh by June-end, cases rose to more than 35 lakh by the end of August.
The silver lining was that the otherwise grim months of July and August showed a glimpse of what lay beyond the peak of cases. Tamil Nadu was the first state to peak. The daily average of new cases touched 6,803 on July 30 and hasn’t crossed that mark again. Bihar also saw its highest daily case tally on August 15.
Eighteen states and UTs reported their maximum daily average of cases in September. Among the larger states, Andhra Pradesh saw its peak at 10,500 cases on September 2. Other major states like Maharashtra (22,149), UP (6,581), Odisha (4,272), Chhattisgarh (3,282), Assam (2,875), Telangana (2,718), Punjab (2,639), Haryana (2,566), and MP (2,523) reached their peak daily cases in September. India reached its peak on September 17, when the daily average touched 93,199 cases.
There has been a steady decline in daily cases since September, and by October-end it appeared that 29 states and UTs were past their peaks.
The daily average of cases is over 5,000 for Kerala and more than 2,000 for Maharashtra and West Bengal now. The average ranges between 1,000 and 2,000 for Chhattisgarh, UP, Delhi, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, MP, Gujarat and Rajasthan. Judging from the overall trends since September, it seems that the worst is over.
A timeline
Shuja Asrar, January 1, 2021: The Times of India
From: Shuja Asrar, January 1, 2021: The Times of India
Coronavirus calendar: How the Covid pandemic unfolded across India in 2020
NEW DELHI: More than 82 million cases, over 1.8 million deaths, a record slump in the economy, loss of livelihoods of millions, lockdown that confined billions of people inside their houses — the coronavirus pandemic has exposed vulnerabilities and tested resilience of humans in 2020.
In India, the virus has so far infected 10.2 million people and claimed the lives of over 148,000 people. The month of September witnessed the most catastrophic phase of the pandemic when over 2.6 million cases were confirmed.
We look at how the pandemic spread across the country since the detection of the first case on January 30.
January (cases:1 | deaths:0)
30 First case confirmed in Kerala's Thrissur
31 WHO declares the coronavirus a Global Emergency of International Concern
February (cases:3 | deaths:0)
2 Second case reported in Kerala's Alappuzha
3 Third case reported in Kerala's Kasaragod
11 WHO names new coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 and disease caused by it Covid-19
27 A total 759 Indians and 43 foreigners airlifted from Wuhan
March (cases:1,397 | deaths:35)
6 Screening of international arrivals in India
11 WHO declared Covid-19 a pandemic
12 First confirmed death in India. Stock markets crash — BSE SENSEX dropped 8.18%,NIFTY dropped 9%
14 Indian scientists isolated a strain of the novel coronavirus
17 Govt allowed private pathology labs to test for Covid-19
22 One-day janta curfew imposed. Passenger air and train travel suspended
23 Hydroxychloroquine recommended for the treatment of high-risk cases.
25 Lockdown imposed till March 25. All domestic flights suspended
26 Exodus of migrants begin. The government announced an economic relief package of ₹1.7 lakh crore
28 1,000 confirmed cases. PM CARES Fund set up
April (cases:34,863 | deaths:1,154)
14 10,000 cases confirmed. Nationwide lockdown extended till May 3.
16 IPL suspended indefinitely
20 First recovery through plasma therapy
May (cases:190,609 | deaths:5408)
1 Nationwide lockdown extended till May 17
3 5,000 deaths confirmed
4 Liquor shops reopen across the country
7 Phase 1 of Vande Bharat mission begins. 50,000 confirmed cases reported in India.
9 ICMR announces tie up with Bharat Biotech to develop indigenous vaccine for Covid-19
12 PM Narendra Modi announces Rs 20 lakh crore Atmanirbhar package
17 Nationwide lockdown extended till May 31
19 100,000 cases confirmed
June (cases:585,481 | deaths: 17,400)
1 Govt announced guidelines for Unlock 1
10 Recoveries exceed active cases for the first time
12 India overtook UK to become 4th worst-hit coronavirus country
July (cases:1,695,988 | deaths:36511)
1 Govt announces guidelines for Unlock 2.0
6 India overtakes Russia to become third worst-hit country
15 Phase-1 clinical trials of India’s first indigenous Covid-19 vaccine, Covaxin
25 BCCI announces IPL to be held in UAE from September 19
29 Govt announces guidelines for Unlock 3.0
August (cases:3,691,166 | deaths:65,288)
3 Serum Institute of India got approval from DCGI for trial phases II & III
26 Serum Institute of India starts India trials of Covishield
29 Centre issues Unlock 4.0 guidelines
31 India's GDP contracts 23.9% in April-June quarter
September (cases:6,312,584 | deaths:98,678)
7 India became second worst-affected country after the US
22 India reported over 1 lakh coronavirus recoveries in a single-day for the first time
28 Global death count crossed one million
30 Government issued Unlock 5.0 guidelines
October (cases:8,184,082 | deaths:122,111)
5 Govt said 20-25 cr people to be vaccinated by July 25
26 Govt asked state to prepare 3-tier system for vaccine rollout
28 Voting for phase 1 of Bihar assembly elections
November (cases:9,462,809 | deaths:137,621)
5 Govt said 20-25 cr people to be vaccinated by July 25
26 Govt asked state to prepare 3-tier system for vaccine rollout
28 Voting for phase 1 of Bihar assembly elections
9 Pfizer and BioNtech said vaccine candidate more than 90% effective
10 Delhi in midst of third wave
28 Vaccine trial paricipant demand Rs 5 cr in damages
December (cases:10,244,852 | deaths:148,439)
1 Farmers protests erupt across country
21 India bans flights from UK
29 Six arrivals from UK tested positive for new strain
30 Several cities impose night curfew
