That’s as bad as the U.S. during all but the worst five days of the pandemic in December and early January. Health Minister Harsh Vardhan declared the country “in the endgame of the COVID-19 pandemic” in early March, at almost precisely the point that cases started to surge again. Close to 10% of people returning to Gujarat’s largest city, Ahmedabad, from the festival tested positive for COVID-19 recently, the Press Trust of India reported. The 1.2 million people who’ve died from COVID-19 so far this year already represent about two-thirds of the 1.8 million fatalities in 2020. That’s removing the sense of unified urgency that led many nations to make such strides in turning around the pandemic last year.

Source: The Star April 26, 2021 08:03 UTC