Medical members wearing protective gear take samples from a driver with suspected symptoms of the COVID-19 coronavirus, at a "drive-through" virus test facility in Goyang, north of Seoul, on Feb 29, 2020. (PHOTO / AFP)

India is making progress in battling COVID-19, seeing declining cases and increasing vaccinations coupled with low mortality but high recovery rates.

Counting 160,057 active COVID-19 cases as of Feb 3, India still has the second-highest number of confirmed infections in the world at more than 10 million, but over the past four months it has seen a steady and steep decline in new cases, according to the country’s Union ministry of Health and Family Welfare and the World Health Organization.

After reaching a high of 95,735 on Sept 10, India’s daily new COVID-19 cases dropped to 8,635 — the lowest in 8 months, the ministry stated on Feb 2.

After reaching a high of 95,735 on Sept 10, India’s daily new COVID-19 cases dropped to 8,635 — the lowest in 8 months, the ministry stated on Feb 2

Recovery and case fatality rates for India are 96.94 percent and 1.44 percent respectively. Compared to similarly placed countries, the cases and deaths per million people in India is among the lowest (7,778 cases and 112 deaths per million people), India’s junior minister of health and family welfare Ashwini Kumar Choubey said.

In light of the lower infection rate, the government lifted remaining restrictions, allowing swimming pools, cinemas and exhibition halls to operate at full capacity from Feb 1. Restaurants, bars and shops have been opened across the country. Schools have opened partially.

READ MORE: Controversy swirls around India's homegrown COVID-19 vaccine

“COVID-19 cases have fallen very rapidly,” said Sudhanshu Bankata, a doctor at a private hospital in the national capital. Patients have been declining since December; the hospital where he works has only four COVID-19 patients whereas the number was more than 100 just three months ago, he added.

A larger part of the population develops antibodies and becomes immune to the virus, the chain of transmission is broken, and this reduces the spread of the disease and this is called herd immunity, according to the fifth serological survey report carried out by Delhi government. 

As part of the survey, blood samples of people of different age groups were collected and found that about 56 per cent of the over 28,000 people have developed antibodies against COVID-19.

According to the WHO, between 60 per cent and 70 per cent immunity is needed to break the chain of transmission.

Doctors and government officials are hoping that rollout of the vaccine will contain the virus

Government's strategy of focusing on testing, contact tracing, isolation and quarantine-containment, combined with physical distancing, hand hygiene, use of mask or face covers, closure of schools, work places and containment strategy helped in preventing the disease from spreading, Choubey said in the Parliament.

Countering the government, Shahid Jameel, a virologist and director of the Trivedi School of Biosciences at Ashoka University said, “All data suggest that sufficient numbers of people in India have been exposed to the virus. This is the only logical explanation why India did not see a surge after the festive season in October and November.”

ALSO READ: Almost a quarter of India contracted COVID-19

India has confirmed 10.8 million COVID-19 infections, the most anywhere outside the United States, according to the Union health ministry data updated on Wednesday. 

About one in four of India's 135 crore people may have been infected with the coronavirus, said a source with direct knowledge of a government serological survey. 

According to the WHO, between 60 per cent and 70 per cent immunity is needed to break the chain of transmission

It suggests that the country's real caseload was many times higher than reported, which puts India's actual cases well above 30 crore. 

The state-run Indian Council of Medical Research, which conducted the survey, said it would announce the findings very soon. 

Union health minister Dr Harsh Vardhan said last Saturday that India's COVID-19 recovery rate was 97 per cent while its 1.44 per cent fatality rate was the lowest in the world.

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Sunday that India is setting an example for the world by vaccinating its citizens faster than any other country. The PM added that the country was able to help other nations by sending consignments of the two indigenous vaccines because it is “self-reliant in the field of medicine”.

Doctors and government officials are hoping that rollout of the vaccine will contain the virus. So far, 41 lakhs Indians, mostly frontline healthcare workers, have been vaccinated against coronavirus since the launch on Jan 16, according to the union health ministry. 

India aims to vaccinate at least 300 million high risk people in the first phase of COVID-19 vaccination drive, which is expected to last till August, the health ministry stated. 

 It is using a vaccine developed at home by Bharat Biotech and the Indian Council of Medical Research and another licensed from Oxford University and AstraZeneca. In the coming months, India is expected to approve two more vaccines, Russia’s Sputnik V and Cadila Healthcare’s ZyCov-D.

The writer is a freelance journalist for China Daily.