India records lowest Covid-19 cases in 2 years

New Delhi, Mar 14 (EFE).- India reported Monday 2,503 fresh cases of Covid-19, the lowest in almost two years, bringing optimism about the possible end of the worst part of the pandemic that – according to official figures – has caused 42.9 million infections and more than half a million deaths in the country.

The daily infection in the country has not been this low since May 2020, when India was just witnessing the start of the pandemic and its population of more than 1.35 billion was under a strict lockdown imposed by the government.

According to data from the Indian Ministry of Health, with the latest dip in infections, the positive rate in the country stands at 0.47 percent, which is quite remarkable given that this indicator was above 30 percent less than three months ago.

The official report also said that 98.7 percent of coronavirus patients have fully recovered, and currently there are only 36,168 active cases in the country.

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

This relative improvement in the coronavirus situation has brought an end to the restrictions, curfews and other measures intermittently imposed on the country for two years, which have impacted recovery of the Indian economy.

In recent days, most parts of the country has withdrawn all restrictions, with the normal functioning of transport services, and the reopening of schools, recreation centers, restaurants, bars, and public spaces.

India has also decided to resume international commercial flights from Mar. 27, which will enable the revival of this nation’s tourist and economic activity.

Since Jan. 30, 2020, when the authorities confirmed the first Covid-19 case in a person arriving from the Chinese city of Wuhan, India has experienced three waves of infections.

The worst of them was in May 2021, when the country registered more than 400,000 cases per day, with hospitals running short of beds and oxygen, while crematoriums were packed with bodies. EFE

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