A flicker of hope: The Hindu Editorial on India's declining COVID-19 numbers
The HinduIndia’s count of active COVID-19 cases has hit a six-month low with the number dropping to 3,00,162, according to a Friday bulletin from the Health Ministry. The 3,00,000 active cases last December, saw around 300 deaths being reported every day. While the spread of infection can be controlled in limited ways, the availability of vaccines and the fact that many large countries now are getting closer to having half their population inoculated with at least one dose means that the biggest threat associated with the pandemic — severe disease and death — is much more tractable than last year. This is also accompanied by projections that say, at its worst, a possible third wave cannot be as catastrophic as the second wave peak, even accounting for significantly more infectious and lethal variants suddenly emerging.