India's COVID-19 Cases Keep Rising Unchecked... "Increasing by About 80,000 Daily"

India, 3rd in Cumulative Cases, Likely to Soon Overtake 2nd Place
Indian Government Chose Early Lockdown, Sacrificed Containment for Economy
Hopes for Herd Immunity, but Hundreds of Millions Still Need to Be Infected

[Asia Economy Reporter Naju-seok] In India, the world's second most populous country, the number of confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) is rapidly increasing day by day. While the spread in the United States and Brazil has slowed, the spread in India continues.

According to the international statistics site Worldometer on the 31st, India reported 78,457 new confirmed cases the previous day. India's cumulative confirmed cases reached 3,619,169, making it the third country with the highest number of confirmed cases in the world, but the increase in new confirmed cases is steep. Meanwhile, the United States, which has the highest cumulative confirmed cases, reported 33,981 new cases, and Brazil, ranked second, reported only 15,346 new cases.

If this spread continues, it is only a matter of time before India overtakes Brazil to become the country with the second highest number of confirmed cases in the world.

Children in India wearing masks visiting a chapel [Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

Within India, the steep increase in cases is seen not simply as a population issue but as intertwined with the overall COVID-19 response. India once took active measures such as lockdowns to curb the spread of COVID-19, but recently, despite the rapid increase in new cases, economic activities have continued.

As the economic damage caused by lockdown measures grew, some analyses suggest that the government chose the economy over quarantine measures.

It is also concerning that Indian citizens are responding indifferently to COVID-19. Virologist Shahid Jamil pointed out, "People no longer follow guidelines such as wearing masks, social distancing, and hand washing properly," adding, "Due to the authorities' attitude of emphasizing only the positive aspects, complacency has set in."

Experts expect the spread in India to continue. Some predict that the peak will be reached around September, but there are also opinions that the September peak theory may be an optimistic expectation. The increase in the spread may not easily subside. Considering India's total population and poor health and sanitation conditions, the spread could continue further.

Despite this situation, the Indian government has decided to ease lockdown measures, including resuming subway operations from next month.

There are even voices suggesting to rely on herd immunity. The idea is that if a significant portion of the population becomes infected with COVID-19 and develops immunity, the state where further spread does not occur can be reached. However, it is pointed out that the antibody formation rate is still too low to expect additional immunity. Depending on health authorities, for herd immunity to be achieved, 40-60% of the total population must have antibodies, but the antibody rate among Indian citizens is estimated to be around 20%. This analysis suggests that the actual cumulative confirmed cases may be in the hundreds of millions, and that hundreds of millions more need to be infected to reach herd immunity.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.