Is The Worst Over?

The covid graph may be falling and the vaccines are cause for cheer. But given the threat of a fresh wave of infections and the emergence of new more virulent strains, the pandemic is still with us

- Sonali Acharjee

As India enters Unlock 9—almost a year after first going into lockdown on March 24, 2020— and reopens its cinema halls, malls and swimming pools, it may be a good time to ask where we stand in our fight against Covid-19. The official statistics look encouraging. According to health ministry figures, India recorded less than 9,000 new cases in 24 hours on February 9, a massive drop from the 90,000-odd daily cases it was recording in November. Its total cases as on February 9 stood at 10.8 million and deaths at 155,195, compared to the 27 million cases and 465,000 deaths in the US. And they are a country of 320 million people. On a per-capita basis, the number of infections in the US was 12 times that in India.