Blog: The COVID-19 situation in India

The COVID-situation in India is improving as the daily number of cases have been falling the last week. The high point of daily cases was 1-2 weeks ago with approximately 350 000 cases and has been falling ever since. This is considerably lower than the second wave which had a top of 420 000 cases.  Figure 1 show daily counts of COVID-19 in India with a 7-day average. These numbers seem quite high in absolute terms but considering that India have a population of close to 1,4 billion, the relative data does not look that extreme.

By state numbers, Maharashtra have been one of the most affected in absolute numbers early in the third wave, but Kerala and Karnataka are now worse off.  In Relative terms, Gujarat, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala is among the worst affected.

From the 1st of February, some parts of India have started opening up again, and this brings more flexibility for moving around.

Vaccination

The vaccination level in India is speeding up and by end of last week, 95% of all adults has been given the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine, while 74% have been given the second dose and is fully vaccinated (according to Indian standard). It has been administered a total number of 1,65 billion doses of vaccines in India, by the end of last week,.The daily numbers are close 6 million doses.

All the statistics related to COVID-19 infections and vacination in India is to be found on the webpage https://www.mygov.in/covid-19

Rules of travelling

Even though states have a large degree of independence, the laws and regulations related to COVID-19 are similar all over India. Like in the Nordic (until now), it is mandatory for passengers travelling between states to carry a negative RT-PCR which will have to be issued from up to a maximum of 72 hours before the time of arrival. But our findings is that if you are fully vaccinated, mainly you do not need a RT-PCR and can travel freely with a few exemptions, the most notably is Kerala and Karnataka.  But be sure to doublecheck the rules before travelling, as it can change at a short notice and airlines is not all up to latest guidelines.

Btw. Here is a link to most of the state-by-state regulation, flying domestic:

https://www.goindigo.in/information/state-regulations.html#:~:text=Thermal%20screening%20will%20be%20done,been%20taken%20within%2048%20hours.

And international:

https://www.newdelhiairport.in/covid19