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, and, as of April 2021, has the second-highest number of confirmed cases in the world after the United States with more than 13.53 million reported cases of COVID-19 infection and more than 170,179 deaths as of April 12, 2021. The per day cases peaked mid-September in India with over 90,000 cases reported per day and came down to below 15,000 in January 2021 before rising again under a second wave from March 2021. On 15th April, India became the second country in the world to record more than 200,000 cases in a single day, after USA.

    In July 2020, India's Ministry of Information and Broadcasting claimed the country's case fatality rate was among the lowest in the world at 2.41% and "steadily declining". By mid-May 2020, eight cities accounted for around half of all reported cases in the country: Mumbai, Delhi, Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Pune, and Kolkata. The last region to report its first case was Lakshadweep, on 19 January 2021, nearly a year after the first reported case in India. On 10 June, India's recoveries exceeded active cases for the first time. Infection rates started to drop significantly in September, and the number of daily new cases and active cases started to decline rapidly. A government panel on COVID-19 announced in October that the pandemic had peaked in India, and may come under control by February 2021. This prediction was based on a mathematical simulation assuming that India reaches herd immunity, the so-called "Indian Supermodel". A comparison of the predicted and actual cases is available on its homepage. In a paper on an improved simulation model published February 2021, the same authors estimate the immunity of the Indian population to be close to 60% and claim that India might be the only major economy that has successfully implemented a herd immunity strategy. India has over 30 anti-COVID vaccines in various stages of development and a national vaccination drive was started on 16 January 2021.