India falls below 3,000 COVID-19 cases for the first time in almost two years

India confirmed 2,503 new coronavirus infections on Monday, the lowest number reported in almost two years, a fact that raises optimism about the possible end of the hardest phase of the pandemic, while the Asian country expanded its campaign of vaccination.

Data like today’s had not been seen in the country since May 2020, when the nation was just at the beginning of the pandemic and its population, of more than 1,350 million inhabitants, was under severe movement restrictions after the imposition of a total lockdown.

Significant decrease in infections

According to data from the Indian Ministry of Health, the 2,503 confirmed cases in the last 24 hours place the positivity rate in the country at 0.47%, another record figure for India that came to see this indicator above 30 % less than three months ago.

The official part also assured that 98.7% of coronavirus patients are fully recovered, and that at this time only 36,168 people have the active disease in the country.

The rapid drop in cases comes as the vaccination rate continues to rise with more than 60% of its population fully vaccinated, and a total of 1.8 billion doses administered to some 970 million people.

This general panorama has allowed the end of the restrictions, curfews and closure measures imposed intermittently in the country for two years and that have prevented the Indian economy from reactivating at the expected speed.

In recent days, much of the country has lifted the restrictions due to the coronavirus, with 100% operation of transport services, and allowing the reopening of schools, recreational centers, restaurants, bars, and public spaces, thus reviving the activity of this country accustomed to markets and crowded streets until the arrival of the pandemic.

India has also decided to resume international commercial flights from next Sunday the 27th, which will allow the revival of tourist and economic activity in this nation with its sights set on pre-covid times.

Extension of the vaccination campaign

This Monday, the Indian Ministry of Health also announced that it will extend the vaccination campaign to those over 12 years of age from Wednesday, and opened the booster dose to all citizens over 60.

Specifically, the vaccine intended for the younger population will be Corbevax, developed by the Children’s Hospital of Texas (USA) and the Baylor College of Medicine and which is produced in the Asian country by the Indian company Biological-E.

Until now, the so-called “precautionary doses” or boosters were limited to health workers and the population over 60 years considered at risk.

Since January 30, 2020, when the authorities confirmed the first case of coronavirus in a person from the Chinese city of Wuhan, India has experienced three waves of infections that, at their worst in May 2021, added more of 400,000 cases per day, with hospitals saturated due to lack of beds and oxygen and overflowing crematoria. (I)