COVID-19 pandemic in India

The COVID-19 pandemic in India is part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first case of COVID-19 in India, which originated from China, was reported on 30 January 2020. India currently has the largest number of confirmed cases in Asia,[8] and has the third highest number of confirmed cases in the world after the United States and Brazil[9] with the number of total confirmed cases breaching the 100,000 mark on 19 May, 200,000 on 3 June, [10][11] and 1,000,000 confirmed cases on 17 July 2020.

This article is about epidemiology of COVID-19 pandemic in India. For the current quarantine, see COVID-19 pandemic lockdown in India.

COVID-19 pandemic in India
Map of confirmed cases per million residents
Map of confirmed cases Map of confirmed cases
Map of active cases Map of active cases
Map of confirmed deaths Map of deaths due to the pandemic
Disease	Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)
Virus strain	Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)[1]
Location	India
First outbreak	Wuhan, Hubei, China[2]
Index case	Thrissur, Kerala[3] 10°31′39″N 76°12′52″E
Date	30 January 2020 – ongoing (6 months, 2 weeks and 5 days)[4]
Confirmed cases	2,702,742 [5][lower-roman 1]
Active cases	673,166[5]
Recovered	1,977,779 [5][lower-roman 2]
Deaths	51,797 [5][lower-roman 3]
Fatality rate	1.92%
Territories	28 states and 7 union territories[5]
Government website
www.mohfw.gov.in

India's case fatality rate is among the lowest in the world at 2.41% as of 23 July and is steadily declining.[12] Six cities account for around half of all reported cases in the country – Mumbai, Delhi, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Pune and Kolkata.[13] As of 24 May 2020, Lakshadweep is the only region which has not reported a case. India's recovery rate stands at 63.18% as on 23 July 2020.[14] On 10 June, India's recoveries exceeded active cases for the first time.[15]

On 22 March, India observed a 14-hour voluntary public curfew at the instance of the prime minister Narendra Modi. It was followed by mandatory lockdowns in COVID-19 hotspots and all major cities. Further, on 24 March, the Prime Minister ordered a nationwide lockdown for 21 days, affecting the entire 1.3 billion-person population of India. On 14 April, India extended the nationwide lockdown till 3 May which was followed by two-week extensions starting 3 and 17 May with substantial relaxations. From 1 June, the government started "unlocking" the country (barring "containment zones") in three unlock phases.[16][17][18][19]

In March, after the lockdown was imposed, the United Nations (UN) and the World Health Organization (WHO) praised India's response to the pandemic as 'comprehensive and robust,' terming the lockdown restrictions as 'aggressive but vital' for containing the spread and building necessary healthcare infrastructure. At the same time, the Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Tracker (OxCGRT) noted the government's swift and stringent actions, emergency policy-making, emergency investment in health care, fiscal stimulus, investment in vaccine and drug R&D and gave India a score of 100 for the strict response. Also in March, Michael Ryan, chief executive director of the WHO's health emergencies programme noted that India had tremendous capacity to deal with the outbreak owing to its vast experience in eradicating smallpox and polio.[20][21][22] Other commentators have raised concerns about the economic fallout arising as a result of the pandemic and preventive restrictions.[23][24] The lockdown was justified by the government and other agencies for being preemptive to prevent India from entering a higher stage which could make handling very difficult and cause even more losses thereafter.[25][26]

Background

On 12 January 2020, the WHO confirmed that a novel coronavirus was the cause of a respiratory illness in a cluster of people in Wuhan City, Hubei, China, which was reported to the WHO on 31 December 2019.[27][28]

Timeline

COVID-19 cases in India  ()      Deaths        Recoveries        Active cases Jan 30 Jan 30 Feb 2–21 Feb 2–21 Mar 2–31 Mar 2–31 Apr 1–30 Apr 1–30 May 1–31 May 1–31 Jun 1–30 Jun 1–30 Jul 1–28 Jul 1–28 Last 21 days Last 21 days
Date			# of cases	# of deaths
2020-01-30			1(n.a.)	0(n.a.)
⋮			1(=)
2020-02-02			2(+100%)	0(n.a.)
2020-02-03			3(+50%)	0(n.a.)
⋮			3(=)
2020-02-21			3(=)	0(n.a.)
⋮			3(=)
2020-03-02			5(+67%)	0(n.a.)
2020-03-03			6(+20%)	0(n.a.)
2020-03-04			28(+367%)	0(n.a.)
2020-03-05			30(+7.1%)	0(n.a.)
2020-03-06			31(+3.3%)	0(n.a.)
2020-03-07			34(+9.7%)	0(n.a.)
2020-03-08			39(+15%)	0(n.a.)
2020-03-09			44(+13%)	0(n.a.)
2020-03-10			50(+14%)	0(n.a.)
2020-03-11		​	60(+20%)	0(n.a.)
2020-03-12		​	74(+23%)	1(n.a.)
2020-03-13		​	81(+9.5%)	2(+100%)
2020-03-14		​	84(+3.7%)	2(=)
2020-03-15		​	110(+31%)	2(=)
2020-03-16		​	114(+3.6%)	2(=)
2020-03-17		​	137(+20%)	3(+50%)
2020-03-18		​	151(+10%)	3(=)
2020-03-19		​	173(+15%)	4(+33%)
2020-03-20		​	223(+29%)	4(=)
2020-03-21		​	315(+41%)	4(=)
2020-03-22		​	360(+14%)	7(+75%)
2020-03-23		​	468(+30%)	9(+29%)
2020-03-24		​	519(+11%)	10(+11%)
2020-03-25		​	606(+17%)	10(=)
2020-03-26		​	694(+15%)	16(+60%)
2020-03-27		​ ​	834(+20%)	19(+19%)
2020-03-28		​ ​	918(+10%)	19(=)
2020-03-29		​ ​	1,024(+12%)	27(+42%)
2020-03-30		​ ​	1,251(+22%)	32(+19%)
2020-03-31		​ ​	1,397(+12%)	35(+9.4%)
2020-04-01		​ ​	1,834(+31%)	41(+17%)
2020-04-02		​ ​ ​	2,069(+13%)	53(+29%)
2020-04-03		​ ​ ​	2,547(+23%)	62(+17%)
2020-04-04		​ ​ ​	3,072(+21%)	75(+21%)
2020-04-05		​ ​ ​	3,577(+16%)	83(+11%)
2020-04-06		​ ​ ​	4,281(+20%)	111(+34%)
2020-04-07		​ ​ ​	4,789(+12%)	124(+12%)
2020-04-08		​ ​ ​	5,274(+10%)	149(+20%)
2020-04-09		​ ​ ​	5,865(+11%)	169(+13%)
2020-04-10		​ ​ ​	6,761(+15%)	206(+22%)
2020-04-11		​ ​ ​	7,529(+11%)	242(+17%)
2020-04-12		​ ​ ​	8,447(+12%)	273(+13%)
2020-04-13		​ ​ ​	9,352(+11%)	324(+19%)
2020-04-14		​ ​ ​	10,815(+16%)	353(+9%)
2020-04-15		​ ​ ​	11,933(+10%)	392(+11%)
2020-04-16		​ ​ ​	12,759(+6.9%)	420(+7.1%)
2020-04-17		​ ​ ​	13,835(+8.4%)	452(+7.6%)
2020-04-18		​ ​ ​	14,792(+6.9%)	488(+8%)
2020-04-19		​ ​ ​	16,116(+9%)	519(+6.4%)
2020-04-20		​ ​ ​	17,656(+9.6%)	559(+7.7%)
2020-04-21		​ ​ ​	18,985(+7.5%)	603(+7.9%)
2020-04-22		​ ​ ​	20,471(+7.8%)	652(+8.1%)
2020-04-23		​ ​ ​	21,700(+6%)	686(+5.2%)
2020-04-24		​ ​ ​	23,452(+8.1%)	723(+5.4%)
2020-04-25		​ ​ ​	24,942(+6.4%)	779(+7.7%)
2020-04-26		​ ​ ​	26,917(+7.9%)	826(+6%)
2020-04-27		​ ​ ​	28,380(+5.4%)	886(+7.3%)
2020-04-28		​ ​ ​	29,974(+5.6%)	937(+5.8%)
2020-04-29		​ ​ ​	31,787(+6%)	1,008(+7.6%)
2020-04-30		​ ​ ​	33,610(+5.7%)	1,075(+6.6%)
2020-05-01		​ ​ ​	35,365(+5.2%)	1,152(+7.2%)
2020-05-02		​ ​ ​	37,776(+6.8%)	1,223(+6.2%)
2020-05-03		​ ​ ​	40,263(+6.6%)	1,306(+6.8%)
2020-05-04		​ ​ ​	42,836(+6.4%)	1,389(+6.4%)
2020-05-05		​ ​ ​	46,711(+9%)	1,583(+14%)
2020-05-06		​ ​ ​	49,391(+5.7%)	1,694(+7%)
2020-05-07		​ ​ ​	52,952(+7.2%)	1,783(+5.3%)
2020-05-08		​ ​ ​	56,342(+6.4%)	1,886(+5.8%)
2020-05-09		​ ​ ​	59,662(+5.9%)	1,981(+5%)
2020-05-10		​ ​ ​	62,939(+5.5%)	2,109(+6.5%)
2020-05-11		​ ​ ​	67,152(+6.7%)	2,206(+4.6%)
2020-05-12		​ ​ ​	70,756(+5.4%)	2,293(+3.9%)
2020-05-13		​ ​ ​	74,281(+5%)	2,415(+5.3%)
2020-05-14		​ ​ ​	78,003(+5%)	2,549(+5.5%)
2020-05-15		​ ​ ​	81,970(+5.1%)	2,649(+3.9%)
2020-05-16		​ ​ ​	85,940(+4.8%)	2,752(+3.9%)
2020-05-17		​ ​ ​	90,927(+5.8%)	2,872(+4.4%)
2020-05-18		​ ​ ​	96,169(+5.8%)	3,029(+5.5%)
2020-05-19		​ ​ ​	101,139(+5.2%)	3,163(+4.4%)
2020-05-20		​ ​ ​	106,750(+5.5%)	3,303(+4.4%)
2020-05-21		​ ​ ​	112,359(+5.3%)	3,435(+4%)
2020-05-22		​ ​ ​	118,447(+5.4%)	3,583(+4.3%)
2020-05-23		​ ​ ​	125,101(+5.6%)	3,720(+3.8%)
2020-05-24		​ ​ ​	131,868(+5.4%)	3,867(+4%)
2020-05-25		​ ​ ​	138,845(+5.3%)	4,021(+4%)
2020-05-26		​ ​ ​	145,380(+4.7%)	4,167(+3.6%)
2020-05-27		​ ​ ​	151,767(+4.4%)	4,337(+4.1%)
2020-05-28		​ ​ ​	158,333(+4.3%)	4,531(+4.5%)
2020-05-29		​ ​ ​	165,799(+4.7%)	4,706(+3.9%)
2020-05-30		​ ​ ​	173,763(+4.8%)	4,971(+5.6%)
2020-05-31		​ ​ ​	182,143(+4.8%)	5,164(+3.9%)
2020-06-01		​ ​ ​	190,535(+4.6%)	5,394(+4.5%)
2020-06-02		​ ​ ​	198,706(+4.3%)	5,598(+3.8%)
2020-06-03		​ ​ ​	207,615(+4.5%)	5,815(+3.9%)
2020-06-04		​ ​ ​	216,919(+4.5%)	6,075(+4.5%)
2020-06-05		​ ​ ​	226,770(+4.5%)	6,348(+4.5%)
2020-06-06		​ ​ ​	236,657(+4.4%)	6,642(+4.6%)
2020-06-07		​ ​ ​	246,628(+4.2%)	6,929(+4.3%)
2020-06-08		​ ​ ​	256,611(+4%)	7,200(+3.9%)
2020-06-09		​ ​ ​	266,598(+3.9%)	7,471(+3.8%)
2020-06-10		​ ​ ​	276,583(+3.7%)	7,745(+3.7%)
2020-06-11		​ ​ ​	286,579(+3.6%)	8,102(+4.6%)
2020-06-12		​ ​ ​	297,535(+3.8%)	8,498(+4.9%)
2020-06-13		​ ​ ​	308,993(+3.9%)	8,884(+4.5%)
2020-06-14		​ ​ ​	320,922(+3.9%)	9,195(+3.5%)
2020-06-15		​ ​ ​	332,424(+3.6%)	9,520(+3.5%)
2020-06-16		​ ​ ​	343,091(+3.2%)	9,900(+4%)
2020-06-17		​ ​ ​	354,065(+3.2%)	11,903(+20%[lower-roman 4])
2020-06-18		​ ​ ​	366,946(+3.6%)	12,237(+2.8%)
2020-06-19		​ ​ ​	380,532(+3.7%)	12,573(+2.7%)
2020-06-20		​ ​ ​	395,048(+3.8%)	12,948(+3%)
2020-06-21		​ ​ ​	410,461(+3.9%)	13,254(+2.4%)
2020-06-22		​ ​ ​	425,282(+3.6%)	13,699(+3.4%)
2020-06-23		​ ​ ​	440,215(+3.5%)	14,011(+2.3%)
2020-06-24		​ ​ ​	456,183(+3.6%)	14,476(+3.3%)
2020-06-25		​ ​ ​	473,105(+3.7%)	14,894(+2.9%)
2020-06-26		​ ​ ​	490,401(+3.7%)	15,301(+2.7%)
2020-06-27		​ ​ ​	508,953(+3.8%)	15,685(+2.5%)
2020-06-28		​ ​ ​	528,859(+3.9%)	16,095(+2.6%)
2020-06-29		​ ​ ​	548,318(+3.7%)	16,475(+2.4%)
2020-06-30		​ ​ ​	566,840(+3.4%)	16,893(+2.5%)
2020-07-01		​ ​ ​	585,493(+3.3%)	17,400(+3%)
2020-07-02		​ ​ ​	604,641(+3.3%)	17,834(+2.5%)
2020-07-03		​ ​ ​	625,544(+3.5%)	18,213(+2.1%)
2020-07-04		​ ​ ​	648,315(+3.6%)	18,655(+2.4%)
2020-07-05		​ ​ ​	673,165(+3.8%)	19,268(+3.3%)
2020-07-06		​ ​ ​	697,413(+3.6%)	19,693(+2.2%)
2020-07-07		​ ​ ​	719,665(+3.2%)	20,160(+2.4%)
2020-07-08		​ ​ ​	742,417(+3.2%)	20,642(+2.4%)
2020-07-09		​ ​ ​	767,296(+3.4%)	21,129(+2.4%)
2020-07-10		​ ​ ​	793,802(+3.5%)	21,604(+2.2%)
2020-07-11		​ ​ ​	820,916(+3.4%)	22,123(+2.4%)
2020-07-12		​ ​ ​	849,553(+3.5%)	22,674(+2.5%)
2020-07-13		​ ​ ​	878,254(+3.4%)	23,174(+2.2%)
2020-07-14		​ ​ ​	906,752(+3.2%)	23,727(+2.4%)
2020-07-15		​ ​ ​	936,181(+3.2%)	24,309(+2.5%)
2020-07-16		​ ​ ​	968,876(+3.5%)	24,915(+2.5%)
2020-07-17		​ ​ ​	1,003,832(+3.6%)	25,602(+2.8%)
2020-07-18		​ ​ ​	1,038,716(+3.5%)	26,273(+2.6%)
2020-07-19		​ ​ ​	1,077,618(+3.7%)	26,816(+2.1%)
2020-07-20		​ ​ ​	1,118,043(+3.8%)	27,497(+2.5%)
2020-07-21		​ ​ ​	1,155,191(+3.3%)	28,084(+2.1%)
2020-07-22		​ ​ ​	1,192,915(+3.3%)	28,732(+2.3%)
2020-07-23		​ ​ ​	1,238,635(+3.8%)	29,861(+3.9%[lower-roman 5])
2020-07-24		​ ​ ​	1,287,945(+4%)	30,601(+2.5%)
2020-07-25		​ ​ ​	1,336,861(+3.8%)	31,358(+2.5%)
2020-07-26		​ ​ ​	1,385,522(+3.6%)	32,063(+2.2%)
2020-07-27		​ ​ ​	1,435,453(+3.6%)	32,771(+2.2%)
2020-07-28		​ ​ ​	1,483,156(+3.3%)	33,425(+2%)
2020-07-29		​ ​ ​	1,531,669(+3.3%)	34,193(+2.3%)
2020-07-30		​ ​ ​	1,583,792(+3.4%)	34,968(+2.3%)
2020-07-31		​ ​ ​	1,638,870(+3.5%)	35,747(+2.2%)
2020-08-01		​ ​ ​	1,695,988(+3.5%)	36,511(+2.1%)
2020-08-02		​ ​ ​	1,750,723(+3.2%)	37,364(+2.3%)
2020-08-03		​ ​ ​	1,803,695(+3%)	38,135(+2.1%)
2020-08-04		​ ​ ​	1,855,745(+2.9%)	38,938(+2.1%)
2020-08-05		​ ​ ​	1,908,254(+2.8%)	39,795(+2.2%)
2020-08-06		​ ​ ​	1,964,536(+2.9%)	40,699(+2.3%)
2020-08-07		​ ​ ​	2,027,074(+3.2%)	41,585(+2.2%)
2020-08-08		​ ​ ​	2,088,611(+3%)	42,518(+2.2%)
2020-08-09		​ ​ ​	2,153,010(+3.1%)	43,379(+2%)
2020-08-10		​ ​ ​	2,215,074(+2.9%)	44,386(+2.3%)
2020-08-11		​ ​ ​	2,268,675(+2.4%)	45,257(+2%)
2020-08-12		​ ​ ​	2,329,638(+2.7%)	46,091(+1.8%)
2020-08-13		​ ​ ​	2,396,637(+2.9%)	47,033(+2%)
2020-08-14		​ ​ ​	2,461,190(+2.7%)	48,040(+2.1%)
2020-08-15		​ ​ ​	2,526,192(+2.6%)	49,036(+2.1%)
2020-08-16		​ ​ ​	2,589,682(+2.5%)	49,980(+1.9%)
2020-08-17		​ ​ ​	2,647,663(+2.2%)	50,921(+1.9%)
2020-08-18		​ ​ ​	2,702,742(+2.1%)	51,797(+1.7%)
Source: Ministry of Health and Family Welfare

[show all] COVID-19 pandemic in India by state and union territory
State/Union Territory	Cases[lower-alpha 1]	Deaths	Recoveries	Active
35 / 36	2,702,742	51,797	1,977,779	673,166
Andaman and Nicobar Islands	2,445	29	1,325	1,091
Andhra Pradesh	296,609	2,732	209,100	84,777
Arunachal Pradesh	2,741	5	1,893	843
Assam	79,667[lower-alpha 2]	197	56,734	22,736
Bihar	106,307	468	76,452	29,387
Chandigarh	2,216	30	1,183	1,003
Chhattisgarh	16,025	150	10,598	5,277
Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu	1,908	2	1,459	447
Delhi	153,367	4,214	138,301	10,852
Goa	11,994	111	8,058	3,825
Gujarat	79,710	2,800	62,595	14,315
Haryana	48,040	550	40,610	6,880
Himachal Pradesh	4,174	19	2,834	1,321
Jammu and Kashmir	28,892	548	21,296	7,048
Jharkhand	23,752	250	15,051	8,451
Karnataka	233,283	4,062	148,562	80,659
Kerala	46,140	169[lower-alpha 3]	30,025	15,946
Ladakh	1,966	14	1,368	584
Lakshadweep	0	0	0	0
Madhya Pradesh	46,385	1,128	35,025	10,232
Maharashtra	604,358	20,265	428,514	155,579
Manipur	4,687	17	2,734	1,936
Meghalaya	1,418	6	679	733
Mizoram	789	0	372	417
Nagaland	355	8	1,530	1,917
Odisha	62,294	353	43,780	18,161
Puducherry	8,029	114	4,627	3,288
Punjab	32,696	863	20,180	11,653
Rajasthan	62,630	887	47,654	14,089
Sikkim	1,187	1	701	485
Tamil Nadu	343,945	5,886	283,937	54,122
Telangana	93,937	711	72,202	21,024
Tripura	7,409	62	5,404	1,943
Uttarakhand	12,493	158	8,485	3,850
Uttar Pradesh	158,216	2,515	104,808	50,893
West Bengal	119,578	2,473	89,703	27,402
As of 18 August 2020[35]
Notes Inclusive of foreign nationals The MoHFW data has included a case from Dimapur district of Nagaland, a northeastern state of India, against the case count of Assam. It has been included since the patient was shifted in GMCH, Assam for treatment.[31] Here in the table the case figure is included against Assam as per MoHFW and not per the Government of Assam's statistics.[32] The MoHFW data has included a death from Mahé district of Puducherry, a union territory of India and which is surrounded by North Malabar region of Kerala, against the death count of Kerala. It has been included since the patient died at Parayaram Medical College in Kannur, Kerala.[33] Here in the table the death figure is included against Kerala as per MoHFW and not per the Government of Kerala’s statistics.[34]

Main article: Timeline of the COVID-19 pandemic in India

On 30 January, India reported its first case of COVID-19 in Kerala, which rose to three cases by 3 February; all were students returning from Wuhan. Apart from these, no significant rise in transmissions was observed in February. On 4 March 22 new cases were reported, including 14 infected members of an Italian tourist group.[36][37]

In March, the transmissions grew after several people with travel history to affected countries, and their contacts, tested positive. On 12 March, a 76-year-old man, with a travel history to Saudi Arabia, became the first COVID-19 fatality of India.[38]

Timeline of the pandemic spread across India (since 30 January 2020 and till 3 April 2020)

A Sikh preacher, who had a travel history to Italy and Germany, turned into a "super spreader" by attending a Sikh festival in Anandpur Sahib during 10–12 March.[39][40] Twenty-seven COVID-19 cases were traced back to him.[41] Over 40,000 people in 20 villages in Punjab were quarantined on 27 March to contain the spread.[40][42]

On 31 March, a Tablighi Jamaat religious congregation event in Delhi, which had taken place earlier in March, emerged as a new virus super spreader event, after numerous cases across the country were traced back to it. On 18 April, the Health ministry announced that 4,291 cases were directly linked to the event.[43][44]

On 2 May, in Punjab, around 4,000 stranded pilgrims returned from Hazur Sahib in Nanded, Maharashtra. Many of them tested positive, including 27 bus drivers and conductors who had been part of the transport arrangement. Till 13 May, 1,225 pilgrims had been tested positive.[45][46][47]

Government responses

Main articles: Indian government response to the COVID-19 pandemic and Indian state government responses to the COVID-19 pandemic

The outbreak has been declared an epidemic in more than a dozen states and union territories, where provisions of the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897 have been invoked, leading to the temporary closure of educational and commercial establishments. All tourist visas have been suspended, as a majority of the confirmed cases were mainly imports.[48] State governments took various measures to contain the spread of the virus.

Testing and countermeasures

Testing

Samples tested	30,941,264
Tested positive[5]	2,702,742
Tests per 1 million people	22,423
Percentage tested positive	8.74
As of 18 August 2020 [49]

A testing facility at the National Centre for Disease Control in Delhi

A sample collection kiosk for COVID-19 testing in Kerala

The Union Health Ministry's war room and policy making team in New Delhi consists of the ministry's Emergency Medical Response Unit, the Central Surveillance Unit (IDSP), the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and experts from three government hospitals.[50] They are part of policy decisions to decide how coronavirus should be tackled in the country.[50] A cluster-containment strategy is mainly being adopted, similar to how India contained previous epidemics, as well as "breaking the chain of transmission".[50][51][52] 15 labs across India led by the National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune, are testing for the virus, with more labs being trained, as of early March.[53] On 14 March 65 labs were named capable for testing for the virus (though as of 17 March not all are fully functional).[54][55][56]

On 14 March, scientists at the National Institute of Virology isolated a strain of the novel coronavirus. By doing so, India became the fifth country to successfully obtain a pure sample of the virus after China, Japan, Thailand and the US.[57] The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) said that isolation of the virus will help towards expediting the development of drugs, vaccines and rapid diagnostic kits in the country.[58] NIV has shared two SARS-CoV-2 genome sequences with GISAID.[59] On 16 April, China sent 650,000 testing kits to India[60] but their use was discontinued in view of a very low accuracy (of just 5.4%).[61] In May, National Institute of Virology introduced another antibody test kit ELISA for rapid testing, capable of processing 90 samples in a single run of 2.5 hours.[62]

Initial testing

Initially, the labs tested samples only from those with a travel history to 12 countries designated as high-risk, or those who have come in contact with anyone testing positive for the coronavirus, or showing symptoms as per the government guidelines.[63][64] On 20 March, the government decided to also include all pneumonia cases, regardless of travel or contact history after the country saw a sharp increase in the number of cases.[65] The first and second confirmatory tests for the virus has been made free by the government.[66] On 9 April, ICMR further revised the testing strategy and allowed testing of the people showing symptoms for a week in the hotspot areas of the country, regardless of travel history or local contact to a patient.[67]

The Ministry of Health said that only 10 per cent of test capacity had been used per day till 15 March,[66] claiming that the number of tests was enough. However experts thought they were not, saying that community transmission may go undetected without adequate testing.[55] They also wanted to add more testing centres by inclusion of private laboratories.[55][64] In mid-March the government authorised accredited private labs to test for the virus.[68]

Expansion of tests

On 17 March, the Union Ministry of Health had decided to allow private pathology labs to test for COVID-19. The ministry official claimed that by allowing private labs, the work of testing can be doubled. The ministry said that National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL) accredited laboratories may soon be allowed.[69] Once set up, a person can get COVID-19 test done at a private lab after a qualified physician in a government facility recommends it.[70] The ICMR has appealed to the private labs to offer the tests for free as the government labs do.[69]

On 18 March, A top health ministry official said that a Swiss private company named Roche Diagnostics has been given the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) emergency approval to conduct tests for coronavirus. The Indian regulator has given them a licence to conduct diagnostic tests of the virus on 17 March.[71] The Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) was assessing giving another firm licence while two Indian diagnostic companies have also sought approval for the coronavirus testing kits developed by them.[72] The government has also issued guidelines to cap the cost of sample testing by private labs at ₹4,500.[73]

On 19 March, Ramanan Laxminarayan, director of the Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics & Policy stated that India could be facing a "tsunami of cases within a few weeks" as testing increases and the reason for the low number of confirmed cases currently is due to under-testing. He also said that according to mathematical models applied in the US or UK at least 20%–60% of the population will be affected. Applying the same models in India means that at the lower end of the estimate there could be 300 million cases of which 4–8 million could be severe.[74]

111 additional labs for testing became functional on 21 March.[75] On 24 March, Pune-based molecular diagnostic company Mylab Discovery Solutions became the first Indian company to have received validation for its RT-PCR tests from National Institute of Virology and the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). The test takes 2.5 hours and the company is looking to price it at around ₹1,200 (US$17), or Rs 80,000 for a 100 test kit.[76][77]

In April, Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology of Delhi had developed low cost paper-strip test that could detect COVID-19 within an hour. Each test would cost ₹500 (US$7.00) and method could fulfill India's rapid need of testing.[78]

On 13 April, ICMR advised pool testing in the low infection areas with a positivity rate less than 2% to increase the capacity of the testing and save resources. In this process maximum five samples are tested at once and samples are tested individually only if a pool tests positive.[79] Andaman and Nicobar Islands[80] and Uttar Pradesh[81] have started doing pool testing.

On 14 April, ICMR and DGCI approved 18 new suppliers of test kits that included three Indian firms, bringing the total suppliers to 51.[82]

On 16 April, 650,000 rapid antibody test and RNA extraction kits were dispatched from China, and over 2 million kits were to be sent in next 15 days.[61] On 21 April, Health department of West Bengal alleged that large number of testing kits supplied by ICMR-NICED (National Institute of Cholera and Enteric Diseases) were giving inconclusive results. ICMR-NICED admitted that there was problem in the kits and said that they are addressing the issue.[83] While Rajasthan stopped using rapid testing kits as they were giving low accuracy of 5.4% in compared to expected 90% accuracy.[84] Later, ICMR advised all states to stop using rapid testing kits for next two days until their on-ground teams validates these kits.[85] Rapid antibody test kits were put on hold till further notice. The Chinese manufactures of the rapid testing kits said that the testing kits were approved by ICMR and the problem is not with the kits but with the way they were being used. However, Chinese manufacturers promised to cooperate with Indian authorities to resolve the issue.[86][87] Amid this, ICMR asked states to return the faulty kits which will be sent back to the Chinese suppliers and cancelled the order of all remaining kits.[88][89]

Testing community transmission

Testing for community transmission began on 15 March. 65 laboratories of the Department of Health Research and the Indian Council of Medical Research (DHR-ICMR) have started testing random samples of people who exhibit flu-like symptoms and samples from patients without any travel history or contact with infected persons.[90][91] As of 18 March, no evidence of community transmission was found after results of 500 random samples tested negative.[92] Between 15 February and 2 April, 5,911 SARI (Severe Acute Respiratory Illnesses) patients were tested throughout the country of which, 104 tested positive (1.8%) in 20 states and union territories. About 40% of the identified patients did not have travel history or any history of contact with a positive patient.[93] The ICMR advised to prioritise containment in the 36 districts of 15 states which had reported positive cases among SARI patients.[94]

Research and treatment

A poster showing the COVID-19 combat mission of Council of Scientific and Industrial Research

Sai Krishna Hospital as COVID-19 Isolation Centre; operated by Government of Gujarat in Mehsana, Gujarat, India

In Rajasthan, a combination of anti-malaria, anti-swine flu and anti-HIV drugs resulted in the recovery of three patients in March.[95] In the same month, the Indian Institute of Chemical Technology, the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and Cipla launched a joint venture to develop anti-COVID-19 drugs.[96] Another Indian firm, Stempeutics, announced plans to introduce a stem cell-based agent for treating critical COVID-19 patients.[97] Following randomised clinical trials, another Indian firm Biocon got its novel biologic therapy by use of a newly formulated intravenous drug for treatment of patients.[98]

In March, a startup incubated in Pune's SciTech Park introduced 'Airon', a negative ion generator capable of reducing a room's viral load by 99.7%.[99] In April, funds for a number of preventive agents were released to initiate research.[100][101]

On 23 March, the National Task Force for COVID-19 constituted by the ICMR recommended the use of hydroxychloroquine for the treatment of high-risk cases.[102]

According to estimates, India has around 40,000 ventilators, of which 8,432 are with the public sector.[103] Various Indian PSUs, firms and startups, including DRDO and ISRO, have since repurposed their production lines to manufacture general PPEs, full body suits and ventilators. They are also designing low-cost or mobile medical equipment.[104][105][106][107] The focus was to increase the production of low-cost, compact and portable ventilators that could cater to multiple patients at a time. This led to the creation of some of the world's smallest and cheapest ventilators.[108] The government aims to double the current capacity of ventilators by June 2020 with the assistance from PSUs. The government has also requested major private automakers to explore the possibility of manufacturing ventilators at their plants.[109] Maruti Suzuki, in collaboration with AgVa Healthcare, will supply 10,000 ventilators till end of the May.[110] From nil in near past, India was producing around 200,000 PPE kits and 250,000 N95 masks per day in May 2020.[111] By second half of month, India had emerged as world's second largest producer of PPE body coveralls.[112]

The Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology has been working on genome sequencing of COVID-19.[113] In May, CCMB also started a partnership with a private company Eyestem Research to grow novel coronavirus strain in human lung epithelial cells for research and trials of anti-viral drugs.[114]

On 12 April, the ICMR invited health institutions and hospitals to participate in trials of convalescent plasma therapy and plasma exchange therapy. Later, the ICMR submitted a list of such institutes to the DCGI to start trials,[115] which the DCGI approved.[116] Several states were allowed by ICMR to start clinical trials of the plasma therapy.[117][118] In Delhi, a 49-year-old man who was on ventilator support became the first patient in the country, who recovered through plasma therapy in April.[119] Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal said that the initial results of the plasma therapy treatment on four patients gave positive and encouraging results, adding that they had decided to conduct it on three more patients.[120] However, the ICMR later stated that there is no robust evidence to support convalescent plasma therapy as a routine therapy, describing it is as an emerging and experimental therapy. It has some risks, which include life-threatening allergies and lung injuries. The ICMR have since started multi-centre clinical trials to ensure the treatment's safety and efficacy in treating COVID-19 patients across the country.[121]

In late July, Cipla and Indian Institute of Chemical Technology launched jointly developed anti-viral drug favipiravir at cost of 10% of existing alternative in the market, followed by Jenburkt pharmaceuticals and Lupin Limited launching same at even lower cost.[122][123]

Development of anti-COVID vaccines

Pune-based Serum Institute of India announced that it would apply for clinical trials of certain strains from Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) in April. As per company president Adar Poonawalla, a vaccine for COVID-19 will be delivered within a year. However, it may not be effective on 20 to 30% people.[124] Two other companies are also trying to develop a vaccine: Zydus Cadila, which is replicating viral vector and developing a DNA plasmid vaccine,[125] and Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech, in collaboration with US based FluGen, which is expecting the first clinical trials of a nasal vaccine by late 2020.[126] As of late February, the Serum Institute of India had begun animal trials of vaccine candidates,[127] followed by Zydus Cadila in March.[128] ICMR partnered with Bharat Biotech in May to develop COVID vaccine completely in India.[129] Till May, there were over 30 candidates of COVID-19 vaccine in development in India, many of which were already in pre-clinical tests.[130] Four vaccines were expected to enter fully clinical trials in August–October.[131] Per reports emerged in July, ICMR was preparing to launch BBV152 COVID vaccine or Covaxin, India's first COVID-19 vaccine on 15 August following its ongoing human trials in July.[132] Although, later deadline was cited as only meant to cut "red tape" and expected timeline of any Indian vaccine not to be before 2021.[133] In mid-July, Zydus Cadila too had followed with human trials of its vaccine named ZyCoV-D.[134] In early August, SII's got approval from DCGI for trial phases II & III.[135] SII has also joined GAVI in a partnership with Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to produce 100 million doses of vaccine for developing countries.[136]

Impact

Commercial establishments

On 19 March, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal announced the closure of all restaurants in the capital by 31 March in view of the ever increasing case of coronavirus. He said that there will be a ban on eating in restaurants but food delivery will continue. He also said that 20 or more people will not be allowed to unite anywhere in the state.[137] On 20 March, in Lucknow all restaurants, hotels, sweet shops have been closed till 31 March.[138]

On 20 March, Delhi government announced that all malls in Delhi will close with only vegetable, grocery and medicine shops remaining open.[139][140] Shops in Mumbai, Pune and Nagpur will remain closed till 31 March.[141][142] During this period, the essential services will continue. Medical services will be available.[143]

On 22 March, Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh has said that in view of coronavirus, the state has ordered lockdown till 31 March. All essential government services will continue and shops for essential goods such as food, medicines etc. will remain open.[144][145] The chief minister of Rajasthan Ashok Gehlot said public vehicle will be banned till 31 March, along with all the malls and shops will remain closed.[146][147]

Education

On 16 March, the union government declared a countrywide lock-down of schools and colleges.[148] On 18 March, CBSE released revised guidelines for examination centres.[149] This includes maintaining a distance of at least 1 metre between the students taking the exam with a class not having more than 24 students. If the rooms of the examination centres are small, divide the students and make them sit in different rooms. On 19 March, CBSE and JEE main examinations were postponed till 31 March.[150][151]

On 20 March, Maharashtra government cancelled examinations for class 1 to 8 and promoted the students to the next classes, whereas examinations for class 9 and 11 were postponed till 15 April.[152] Madhya Pradesh Board of Secondary Education postponed board exams for class 10 and 12 and asked school principals to promote or detain students of class 5 to 8 based on their performance in previous terms.[153] Board exams of class 10 and 12 were postponed in Kerala.[154] Assam government cancelled all exams till 31 March.[155] The Union Public Service Commission also postponed the interview for the Civil Services Examination 2019 to be held from 23 March to 3 April.[156] The SSC exams in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry were postponed to 15 April.[157]

Economy

Main article: Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in India

See also: Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic

A newspaper vendor in Kanyakumari, Tamil Nadu wearing goggles, safety mask and hand gloves.

On 2 March, the BSE SENSEX witnessed a flash crash on the back of Union Health Ministry's announcement of two new confirmed cases.[158] A UN report estimated a trade impact of US$348 million on India due to the outbreak, making India one of the 15 worst affected economies across the world.[159] Asian Development Bank estimated that the outbreak could cause losses of up to US$29.9 billion to India's economy.[160] On 9 March, The BSE SENSEX closed 1,942 points lower at 35,635 while the NSE NIFTY 50 was down by 538 points to 10,451.[161]

Indices: S&P Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) 500 (1 January 2015 to 9 May 2020)

On 12 March, Indian stock markets suffered their worst crash since June 2017 after WHO's declaration of the outbreak as a pandemic. The BSE SENSEX dropped 8.18 per cent or 2,919 points which was its lowest in 23 months while the NIFTY dropped 9 per cent or 950 points.[162]

The Indian Space Research Organisation's GISAT-1 mission onboard GSLV which was scheduled for its launch in April was postponed due to the lockdown.[163]

On 1 April, the coal mining operations of Singareni Collieries Company in Telangana were halted due to the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic.[164]

Entertainment

See also: Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on cinema

The International Indian Film Academy Awards, planned to take place on 27 March, was cancelled.[165] Cinema halls were shut down by most state governments. Film bodies decided to stop the production of films, TV shows and web series till 31 March.[166] On 25 March, all video streaming services, jointly decided to offer only SD quality content on cellular networks. They also decided to lower the resolution to 480p to lower the stress on telecom networks throughout the 21-day lockdown during which there would be an unprecedented surge in mobile internet consumption since people were confined to their homes.[167] The Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF) said that four major broadcasting networks in the country have decided to waive all fees for four channels for two months. The IBF is an organisation promoting the Indian television industry. In a statement, the foundation said that Sony Pal, run by Sony, Star Utsav, run by Star India, Viacom18's Colors Rishtey run by colours and Zee Anmol run by Zee TV will be available for two months free to all viewers in the country. This offer is for all DTH and cable networks.[168]

Events

See also: List of events affected by the COVID-19 pandemic

Indian officials conducting temperature checks at the Ratha Yatra Hindu festival on 23 June

Since 7 March, the BSF has decided to conduct Wagah-Attari border ceremony without any spectators.[169] Padma Awards ceremony, scheduled for 3 April, stands postponed.[170]

Historical buildings

On 17 March, it was announced that all the historic buildings in the country would remain closed till 31 March. According to Union Tourism Minister Prahlad Patel, the Taj Mahal, Red Fort and Qutub Minar and all the National Monuments and Museums under the Archaeological Department of India were to remain closed till 31 March.[171] The Statue of Unity was to be closed to visitors till 25 March.[172][173] However, the monuments were opened to the public only on 6 July.[174]

Religion

Main article: Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on religion

During the lockdown, many religious institutions started live-streaming to help devotees worship from home.[175]

However, many revered temples and shrines, which attracted lakhs of devotees, started imposing entry restrictions as the infection rates increased. Siddhivinayak Temple, Mumbai,[176] Vaishno Devi,[177] Ganga Ghat (Varanasi),[178] Har Ki Pauri,[179] Jagannath Temple, Puri,[180] Venkateswara Temple, Tirumala,[181] and the Ramanathaswamy Temple[182] were closed to devotees even before the national lockdown. Similarly, on 26 March, the Makkah Masjid, Hyderabad, was closed to devotees.[183] Many Christian churches suspended in-person mass and offered worship for their congregants through livestreaming, radio and television.[184]

The Government announced the opening of religious places beginning 8 June under "Unlock 1" and also released detailed guidelines for subsequent operations on 4 June.[185]

Sports

See also: Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on sports

The 2020 ISSF World Cup, which was to commence on 15 March in New Delhi, was postponed.[186] The Indian Open badminton tournament which was scheduled to be held in New Delhi from 24 to 29 March was suspended until 12 April.[187]

India's FIFA World Cup qualification match on 26 March against Qatar in Bhubaneswar was postponed.[188] The All India Football Federation suspended all matches of I-League and I-League 2nd Division from 15 March.[189] On 14 March, the 2020 Indian Super League Final was played behind closed doors.[190][191]

On 13 March, the Board of Control for Cricket in India announced that the opening of 2020 Indian Premier League was postponed from 29 March to 15 April. On 16 April, BCCI suspended the tournament indefinitely due to the pandemic.[192][193]

On 13 March, BCCI cancelled the ODI matches between India and South Africa on 15 and 18 March, which were originally announced to be played without spectators.[194]

TCS World 10 Bengaluru, the IAAF Gold Label Road Race scheduled to be held on 17 May was postponed to 13 September.[195]

Transport

Flights

IndiGo cancelled its Delhi-Istanbul and Chennai – Kuala Lumpur flights starting 18 March to prevent international travel from Turkey and Malaysia.[196] This ban will continue till 31 March.[197] On 17 March 2020, Go Air suspended its international flights till further notice.[198] On 19 March, the Government of India announced that no international flights will be allowed to land in India from 22 March.[199] On 23 March, the union government announced the suspension of all domestic flights in the country starting 25 March.[200]

On 7 August, Air India Express Flight 1344, a repatriation flight, crashed while landing at Calicut International Airport in Kozikhode, killing 18 of the 190 people on board.[201] Two of the survivors tested positive for COVID-19.[202][203]

Railways

On ors tested positive for COVID-19.14 March, Western and Central Railways removed curtains and blankets from AC coaches.[204] On 17 March, Western Railways hiked platform ticket charges from Rs. 10 to Rs. 50 across 250 stations.[205] Central Railways cancelled 23 trains.[206] On 19 March, Tejas Express running between Lucknow Junction to New Delhi and Varanasi to Indore will remain cancelled till 31 March.[207] On 20 March, Delhi Metro was scheduled to remain closed on 22 March due to Janata Curfew.[208] On 22 March, metro services across India were suspended till 31 March.[209] On 21 March, in view of Janata curfew, Indian Railways announced the cancellation of 3,700 trains across the country.[210][211] On 22 March, the union government cancelled all train services in the country baring goods trains, that is around 12,500 trains, and all non-essential passenger transport including interstate transport buses.[212] IRCTC suspended the bookings for 3 private trains till 30 April.[213] After the Prime Minister Modi extended the nationwide lockdown till 3 May. the Indian Railways not only extended the suspension of all its passenger trains during the period but also suspended all ticket bookings till further notice.[214]

On 8 May, the Aurangabad railway accident occurred due to confusion related to the pandemic.

Road

On 19 March, bus services between the cities of Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh have been postponed from 21 to 31 March 2020.[215][216] Punjab government imposed a ban on public transport including buses, auto rickshaws and tempos from 21 March.[217] Public transport including buses, mini buses, maxi cabs and auto services were banned in Srinagar.[218]

Exodus of migrant workers

Main article: Indian migrant workers during the COVID-19 pandemic

With factories and workplaces shut down, many migrant workers were left with no livelihood.[219] They thus decided to walk hundreds of kilometres to go back to their native villages, accompanied by their families in many cases.[220][221] The central government then announced that it had asked state governments to set up immediate relief camps for the migrant workers returning to their native states,[222] and later issued orders protecting the rights of the migrants.[223][224] In its report to the Supreme Court of India on 30 March, the central government stated that the migrant workers, apprehensive about their survival, moved in the panic created by fake news that the lockdown would last for more than three months.[225][226] In early May, the central government finally permitted the Indian Railways to launch "Shramik Special" trains for the migrant workers and others stranded,[227] but this move had a few complications.[228][229][230] On 26 May, the Supreme Court admitted that the problems of the migrants had still not been solved and ordered the Centre and States to provide free food, shelter and transport to stranded migrant workers.[231]

Migrant workers stand in a queue for food at Delhi Govt school during COVID-19 Lockdown at Delhi

Unemployment

The coronavirus lockdown in India has left tens of millions of migrant workers unemployed.[232][233]

Food security

The lockdown disrupted food supplies and threatened to trigger a food crisis.[234][235] By the first week of April, essential industries such as growing, harvesting and food deliveries were allowed to operate.[236]

Relief

Immediate relief

On 19 March, Kerala chief minister (CM) Pinarayi Vijayan announced a stimulus package of ₹20,000 crore (US$2.8 billion) to help the state overcome both the COVID-19 epidemic and economic hardship caused by it.[237] On 21 March, Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath announced ₹1,000 (US$14) to all daily wage labourers.[238] On 22 March, Punjab CM Amarinder Singh announced ₹3,000 (US$42) to all registered construction workers.[239] Telangana CM K. Chandrashekar Rao announced that white ration card holders will be provided ₹1,500 (US$21) per family through ration shops.[240] On 26 March, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced an economic relief package of ₹1.7 lakh crore (US$24 billion), which would be a mix of food security and direct cash transfer, primarily for migrant labourers and daily wage labourers.[241] Prime Minister's National Relief Fund received several donations – ₹3,381 crore (US$470 million) from the Central Reserve Police Force,[242][243] and a month's salary from Vice-President Venkaiah Naidu, Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and NCP's MPs.[244][245] NCP President Sharad Pawar announced that his party's MLAs would donate their one month's salary to Maharashtra CM's Reief Fund.[245] RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das permitted all banks to provide a moratorium on all loans for three months without having to worry about NPAs and keeping their books healthy. He also laid down various measures for injecting ₹3.74 lakh crore (US$52 billion) liquidity into the system.[246] Saibaba Sansthan Trust, Shirdi donated ₹51 crore (US$7.2 million) to Maharashtra CM's relief fund.[247] The Union Government released ₹4,431 crore (US$620 million) pay off the pending wages of daily wage labourers who come under MGNREGA scheme.[248][249] In Delhi, Arvind Kejriwal announced that if a doctor, nurse or hygiene worker dies during treatment, their family will be provided ₹10 million (US$140,000).[250] Karnataka chief minister B. S. Yeddyurappa announced ₹16.1 billion (US$230 million) relief for unorganised sectors including flower growers, washermen and women, barbers, construction workers, auto and cab drivers, MSMEs, and weavers.[251]

PM CARES Fund

Main article: PM CARES Fund

On 28 March, the Prime Minister's Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund (PM CARES Fund) was set up to provide relief to the affected people.[252] Several large business groups[253][254][255][256] and PSUs contributed to the relief fund.[257][258] A sum of ₹3,100 crore was announced as the first allocation from the fund on 13 May.[259][260]

Gas cylinders

On 26 March, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced free gas cylinders for three months to beneficiaries of Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana.[261]

Rations

On 21 March, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal increased free ration from 5 kilograms to 7.5 kilograms for the 7.2 million people who are dependent on the ration scheme.[262] On 22 March, Karnataka CM BS Yediyurappa announced two months of free ration for all the people.[263] Andhra Pradesh CM Y. S. Jaganmohan Reddy announced free ration for the poor.[264] Telangana CM announced that white ration card holders will be provided with 12 kilograms of free rice per person (against a monthly supply of 6 kilograms per card person) through ration shops. On 23 March, Bihar CM Nitish Kumar announced one month of free ration for all ration card holders.

On 25 March, Union Minister Prakash Javadekar announced that 80 crore people would be given wheat at the rate of Rs 2 per kg, and rice at Rs 3 per kg. He also said that three months ration advance would be given.[265]

On 21 April, Arvind Kejriwal announced that 1 crore people would be given free rations in Delhi.[266]

Masks and supplies

On 25 March, Vivo said that they would be donating 100,000 surgical and 5,000 N95 masks to Maharashtra government.[267] On 26 March, former Indian cricketers, Irfan Pathan and Yusuf Pathan, made a donation of 4,000 masks.[268]

On 28 March, Hyundai India announced placing an order for 25,000 COVID-19 Advanced Diagnostic Testing Kits from South Korea.[269]

As of 3 April 2020, Indian Railways had produced total of 2 lakh (200,000) masks and 25,000 sanitisers.[270]

Premier universities in India such as National Institute of Technology Tiruchirappalli,[271] National Institute of Technology Karnataka,[272] National Institute of Technology Warangal,[273] Indian Institute of Technology Delhi,[274] Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur[275] and Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad[276] had prepared hand sanitisers and in their laboratories and started distributing to people.

The Ministry of Textiles stated that India was producing no Personal Protective Equipment kits before the pandemic. By May 2020, it began producing an average of 150,000 PPE kits per day.[277]

Situation

Deaths of doctors due to COVID-19

Main article: Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on healthcare workers

On 8 August 2020, Indian Medical Association announced that 198 doctors have died due to COVID.[278]

Tablighi Jamaat event

Main article: 2020 Tablighi Jamaat coronavirus hotspot in Delhi

The Nizamuddin faction of the Tablighi Jamaat held a religious congregational program (Ijtema) in Nizamuddin West, Delhi in March.[279][280][281] The Delhi Government's order against organising seminars, conferences or any big event (beyond 200 people) was apparently ignored by the organisation, and the Delhi Police also failed to enforce it.[282][283] The gathering emerged as one of India's major coronavirus hotspots.[284] The entire Nizamuddin West area was cordoned off by the police as of 30 March, and medical camps were set up.[285] On 18 April, the Central Government stated that 4,291 cases (or 29.8% of the total 14,378 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in India) were linked to the Tablighi Jamaat, and these cases were spread across 23 states and Union Territories.[286] As of 4 April, about 22,000 people who came in contact with the Tablighi Jamaat missionaries had to be quarantined.[287]

Panic buying

See also: Shortages related to the COVID-19 pandemic

Hyderabad witnessed panic buying throughout 20 and 21 March.[288] Panic buying of milk and other dairy products was also reported.[289][290] Online grocery delivery service Grofers also witnessed panic buying across states.[291]

Retailers and consumer goods firms saw their average daily sales more than double on 19 March as consumers rushed to buy essentials ahead of PM Narendra Modi's address to the nation.[292] In response to this, Modi assured the citizens that there was enough food and ration supplies and advised them against panic buying.[293]

Escape of suspected infected people

Several cases are reported across the country, where people who are suspected to have come in contact with the virus, escaped from the quarantines and hospitals.[294][295]

In Chhattisgarh, a 35 yr-old man from Tagapani, Dhamtari, who was put under isolation home by the health dept after his return from Tamil Nadu, committed suicide.[296]

In Gujarat, 93 people have broken self-isolation rules in 10 days. FIRs have been filed against 10.[297]

Two expats in Kasaragod district, Kerala, who violated quarantine measures were subjected to punitive measures, including cancellation of their Indian passports.[298]

On 20 March, the case of a 26-year-old woman suspected of being infected with coronavirus was reported to have fled the hospital in Punjab. The woman, who hails from Mohali, recently returned from the US and was brought to a government hospital in Chandigarh.[299]

On 13 March in Telangana, one woman returned from Singapore has been missing, while a man who came from Doha went somewhere without telling hospital staff.[300]

Misinformation and discrimination

See also: Misinformation related to the COVID-19 pandemic and Xenophobia and racism related to the COVID-19 pandemic

Despite evidence to the contrary, a viral rumour spread online alleging that only people who eat meat were affected by coronavirus, causing "#NoMeat_NoCoronaVirus" to trend on Twitter.[301] To curb these rumours and combat declining sales, some poultry industry associations held a "Chicken and Egg Mela" in Hyderabad. Several Telangana state ministers were in attendance and ate some of the free eggs and fried chicken being distributed at the event to show their support for the industry.[302]

A Muslim cleric stated that Allah has punished the Chinese by unleashing coronavirus on them for their brutal crackdown on Uighur Muslims.[303] The Chinese consulate in Kolkata also condemned similar statements reportedly made by Dilip Ghosh, president of the West Bengal unit of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.[304]

Some politicians claimed that drinking cow urine and applying cow dung on the body could cure coronavirus.[305][306] WHO's chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan rubbished such claims and criticised these politicians for spreading misinformation.[307][308]

Reports of harassment of people from Northeast India, which shares a border with Tibet and Myanmar, in Chennai, Pune and Hyderabad were reported following the outbreak.[309][310][311] Students from Kirori Mal College in Delhi, Tata Institute of Social Sciences in Mumbai and other institutes in Kolkata have also faced harassment and filed complaints with authorities.[312][313][314]

Misinformation that the government is spreading "anti-corona" drug in the country during Janata curfew went viral on social media.[315] Film actor Mohanlal and many others shared the fake news that, the vibration generated by clapping together during Janata curfew will kill the virus.[316] One viral message says that the lifetime of coronavirus is only 12 hours and staying home for 14 hours during Janata curfew break the chain of transmission.[317] Another message claimed that observing Janata curfew will result in the reduction of coronavirus cases by 40%.[317] A tweet by Rajinikanth claiming that a 14-hour stay home can stop the coronavirus disease going from "stage 2" to "stage 3" was classified as misinformation and was taken down by Twitter for violating community guidelines.[318] Amitabh Bachchan was heavily criticised for one of his tweets, which claimed vibrations from clapping, blowing conch shells as part of Sunday's Janata Curfew would have reduced or destroyed coronavirus potency as it was ‘amavasya’, the darkest day of the month.[319]

Residents of a village named Korauna in Sitapur district in Uttar Pradesh faced discrimination due to similarity in name of the village with the virus.[320]

Some doctors and medical workers were evicted from their homes over fears they may be carrying coronavirus. In cases reported across the country, healthcare professionals described the growing stigma they are facing from their neighbours and landlords, resulting in many being refused taxis, barricaded from their own homes, or made homeless.[321][322]

In March 2020, foreigners from countries such as UK, US and Israel were facing hostility, including evictions from rented homes.[323]

Some patients, in different quarantine facilities of Uttar Pradesh, refused to eat food because the cooks in these facilities were Dalits.[324][325]

The Tablighi Jamaat congregation in Delhi and the resulting hotspot triggered Islamophobic reactions and increased communal tension.[326][327][328] Islamophobic hashtags began circulating shortly after the news broke in late March.[329]

Rajasthan Congress MLA Bharat Singh Kundanpur in a letter to Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot claimed that "when coronavirus can be removed by washing hands with alcohol, then drinking alcohol will surely remove virus from the throat." His claim was rubbished by several health experts and doctors.[330]

Three Sikh men in Chembur, Mumbai were brutally attacked by a stranger for asking him to wear a mask while in public places as ordered by the government. One man was later admitted to a nearby hospital. This incident gave rise to Sikh-Muslim communal tension in the area. The accused was arrested by Mumbai Police.[331][332]

Ramdev claimed that one can treat coronavirus by pouring mustard oil through the nose, making the virus flowing into the stomach, resulting in its ultimate death by the acid present in the stomach. He also claimed that if a person holds his breath for a minute, it means s/he is not suffering from any type of coronavirus, symptomatic or asymtomatic. Both these claims were found to be false.[333][334]

When migrant workers returned to their hometowns and villages following the loss of employment in cities, they were treated with class bias. In some cases, they were hosed down with disinfectants or soap solution.[335] They were feared to be carrying coronavirus from the urban areas where they had been employed.[336] Since many of them belonged to the lower castes, they had to face caste slurs.[337]

A report titled "India: Media’s Crackdown during COVID-19 Lockdown" was published on 15 June 2020. Many sources state that at least 55 journalists have been heavily cracked down on for reporting on COVID-19, with FIRs being filed against them under various Acts. [338][339][340][341][342] The charges have been levied for reporting starvation faced by migrant workers, the failure of the administration to supply rations, mismanagement and negligence at quarantine centres[341], or any other reporting that is construed as 'anti-government'.

Vijayawada COVID-19 facility fire incident

Main article: 2020 Vijayawada fire

9 August 2020, a major fire broke out at a COVID-19 facility located at the Hotel Swarna Palace in the city of Vijayawada, in the state of Andhra Pradesh. Hotel Swarna Palace is used a COVID-19 facility which was leased by a hospital.[343] The fire blaze killed 11 COVID-19 patients and wounded further 22 injured.[344][345]

Statistics

This section is an excerpt from Statistics of COVID-19 pandemic in India[edit]

Total confirmed cases, active cases, recoveries and deaths

  Total confirmed cases   Active cases   Recoveries   Deaths

Linear scale

Logarithmic scale

Daily new cases

  New cases per day   7-day moving average of new cases per day

Daily new deaths

  New deaths per day   7-day moving average of new deaths per day

Note: On 17 June, 1,672 backlogged deaths from Maharashtra and Delhi were added taking reported daily deaths to 2,003 on that day.[346]

On 23 July, Tamil nadu reported 528 deaths including backlogged deaths, taking reported daily deaths to 1,129[347]

Total samples tested

  Tested Samples

Daily samples tested

  New tests per day

Plot of new samples tested per day vs new confirmed positive per day

Linear scale

Logarithmic scale

Positive sampling rate

  Daily positive sampling ratio   Total positive sampling ratio

States and union territories without cases

No confirmed cases have been reported in the following states and union territories:[348]

• Lakshadweep

Confirmed Indian cases abroad

On 4 April 2020, it was reported that 15 Indians died abroad due to COVID-19. The 15 dead people included 6 in the United States, 5 in Italy, 2 in United Arab Emirates and one each in Egypt and Iran.[349] It was reported on 6 April that four Indians who belonged to the state of Kerala, died in abroad due to COVID-19. The four people were 54-year-old nurse in Ireland, 21-year-old student in New York, 51-year-old employee in Queens, New York and 41-year-old driver in Saudi Arabia.[350] On 11 April, it was reported that over 1,500 Indian Americans were infected and more than 40 Indian Americans and Indian nationals died due to the disease.[351] The Ministry of External Affairs have confirmed that there are 3,336 confirmed Indians cases abroad and 25 have died as of 16 April across 53 countries.[352] On 24 April, the NHS revealed that at least 420 people of Indian origin died due to the disease.[353] On 26 April, officials confirmed that the confirmed cases of Indians abroad has increased to 6,300 with 40 deaths.[354]

As of 19 May, the NHS England reported that 695 members of the non-white community categorised as ‘Indian’ died due to the disease.[355] On 25 May, it was reported that a 50-year-old Indian school teacher of Hindi subject who worked at a school in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, died due to the disease.[356]

On 7 June, it was reported that a 61-year-old Indian doctor, who worked at a hospital in Al Ain, United Arab Emirates, died.[357] According to the study of the University of Edinburgh, Indians and South Asians in the UK are likely to die due to COVID-19.[358] As of 25 June 763 people of Indian origin died in the UK, according to the NHS.[359]

On 26 July, it was reported that an Indian businessman died in Nepal.[360]

As of 12 August 2020, it was reported that 792 British Indians died due to COVID-19.[361]

Confirmed cases of Indian nationals abroad

Country/Region	Active cases	Death	Total	Ref
Egypt	Unknown	1	N/A	[349]
Republic of Ireland	Unknown	1	N/A	[350]
Kuwait	1,300	1	N/A	[362]
United States of America	Unknown	>40	1,500	[351]
Singapore	4,800	2	N/A	[363]
Iran	308	1	309	[364]
Saudi Arabia	176	10	186	[365]
Malaysia	Unknown	1	163	[352][366][367]
Qatar	420	Unknown	420	[352]
Oman	297	Unknown	297
United Arab Emirates	238	4	238
Bahrain	135	Unknown	135
Italy	Unknown	5	91
Portugal	36	Unknown	36
Ghana	24	Unknown	24
Switzerland	15	Unknown	15
France	13	Unknown	13
Sri Lanka	1	Unknown	1	[368]
Rwanda	1	Unknown	1
Hong Kong	1	Unknown	1
United Kingdom	Unknown	792	N/A	[361]
Nepal	Unknown	1	N/A	[360]
Total*	6,300+	850+	N/A
*Total of all 53 countries where Confirmed Indian cases reported till 26 April 2020

India's international rankings

S.No	Date	Description		Ranking	Ref
1	10 February 2020	Risk	Corona virus import	17th	[369]
			Relaxing lock downs	15th	[370]
			Risk level	15th/20	[371]
2		Testing		27th	[372][373][374]
			Average daily positivity rate	6th	[375]
	15 June 2020		Per million population	138th	[376]
3		Cases	Total	4th	[377]
			Recovered	8th
			Recovery rate
			Serious or Critical	2nd	[378]
	1 June 2020		Active	5th	[379]
	26 May 2020		Daily Increase	3rd	[380]
			Doubling rate	16th	[381]
			In Asia	1st	[382]
			Per capita	143rd	[383]
	14 June 2020		Days taken to reach 250,000	4th	[384]
4		Deaths	Total	8th	[385]
5		Economy	Impact		[386]
			Package	5th/G20	[387]
6		Safe countries		56th/200	[388][389]
7		Treatment efficiency
8		Supplying medical aid
9		Innovation		19th	[390]
10		Response	Governments’	4th/23
			Citizens rank their govts’	3rd	[391]
11		Leaders
12		Global health
14		Lockdown	Population	1st	[392]
			Effective

See also

• COVID-19 pandemic in South Asia
• SAARC COVID-19 Emergency Fund

Notes

1. Including Foreign Nationals
2. and 1 migrated recovered case to another country
3. Including 2 foreign nationals who died in India due to COVID-19[6][7]
4. On 17 June, 1,672 backlogged deaths from Maharashtra and Delhi were added taking reported daily deaths to 2,003[29]
5. On 23 July, Tamil nadu reported 528 deaths including backlogged deaths, taking reported daily deaths to 1,129[30]

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External links

• COVID-19 on MyGov.in – Government's portal for COVID-19
• "District Map of CoViD-19 in India". fieldmaps.in. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
• COVID-19 pandemic in India playlist on YouTube – COVID-19 Management videos by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
• Prasad, R.; Perappadan, Bindu Shajan; Shelar, Jyoti (2020). George, P.J. (ed.). The Pandemic Notebook (PDF). The Hindu. A handy guide from The Hindu on understanding the coronavirus pandemic and staying protected against COVID-19
• Khaiwal, Ravindra; Mor, Suman. "Kids, Vaayu & Corona: Who wins the fights (A comic series for COVID-19 awareness)" (PDF). www.mohfw.gov.in. MoHFW, Government of India.