COVID-19 pandemic in India
The COVID-19 pandemic in India is a part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). As of 24 April 2024, according to Indian government figures, India has the second-highest number of confirmed cases in the world (after the United States of America) with 45,035,055[4] reported cases of COVID-19 infection and the third-highest number of COVID-19 deaths (after the United States and Brazil) at 533,565[4] deaths.[6][7] In October 2021, the World Health Organization estimated 4.7 million excess deaths, both directly and indirectly related to COVID-19 to have taken place in India.[8][9]
The first cases of COVID-19 in India were reported on 30 January 2020 in three towns of Kerala, among three Indian medical students who had returned from Wuhan, the epicenter of the pandemic.[10][11][12] Lockdowns were announced in Kerala on 23 March, and in the rest of the country on 25 March. Infection rates started to drop in September.[13] Daily cases peaked mid-September with over 90,000 cases reported per-day, dropping to below 15,000 in January 2021.[14] A second wave beginning in March 2021 was much more devastating than the first, with shortages of vaccines, hospital beds, oxygen cylinders and other medical supplies in parts of the country.[14] By late April, India led the world in new and active cases. On 30 April 2021, it became the first country to report over 400,000 new cases in a 24-hour period.[15][6] Experts stated that the virus may reach an endemic stage in India rather than completely disappear;[16] in late August 2021, Soumya Swaminathan said India may be in some stage of endemicity where the country learns to live with the virus.[17]
India began its vaccination programme on 16 January 2021 with AstraZeneca vaccine (Covishield) and the indigenous Covaxin.[18][19] Later, Sputnik V and the Moderna vaccine was approved for emergency use too.[20] On 30 January 2022, India announced that it administered about 1.7 billion doses of vaccines and more than 720 million people were fully vaccinated.[21]