Covid peak over, can be controlled early next year, claims govt panel

New Delhi, Oct 18: The peak stage of COVID-19 pandemic in India likely to have already passed in September and cases are going to plateau further, a government-appointed panel said on Monday.

The panel, which has members of scientists and doctors, said if safety measures are properly followed, the virus can be brought under control by "early next year, with minimal active cases by February end".

The expert panel also warned of a possible spike in the festive season and with the onset of winter. Both factors, it said, can increase people's susceptibility to covid. Festive seasons carry a big risk because of crowds and laxity in maintaining safety measures.

India's COVID-19 caseload went past 74 lakh, while the number of people who have recuperated from the disease crossed 65 lakh pushing the recovery rate to 87.78 per cent, according to data updated by the Union Health Ministry on Saturday.

The coronavirus death toll climbed to 1,12,998 with the virus claiming 837 lives in a day, while the infection tally mounted to 74,32,680 with 62,212 new cases being reported, the data updated at 8 am showed.

The active cases of coronavirus infection dropped below eight lakh for the first time in one-and-half months, the ministry said.

For nine days in a row the active cases remained below nine lakh.

There are 7,95,087 active cases of coronavirus infection in the country which comprises 10.70 per cent of the total caseload, while the recoveries have surged to 65,24,595, according to the data.

The COVID-19 case fatality rate due COVID-19 was recorded at 1.52 per cent.

India's COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 30 lakh on August 23 and 40 lakh on September 5 . It went past 50 lakh on September 16, 60 lakh on September 28 and crossed 70 lakh on October 11.