How the second wave of coronavirus engulfed India

India added more than 3 lakh new cases for the second consecutive day on Friday — a new record for any country anywhere in the world. No country had so far added these many cases for two consecutive days.

On Thursday, India had reported 314,835 Covid cases and went past the previous global record of 300,310 reported by the US on January 2 this year.

The US and India are the only two countries to have reported more than 100,000 cases per day consecutively. Brazil had reported its highest surge of 100,158 cases on March 25.


The abrupt and sudden manner in which the second wave has hit India can be seen in the below charts.


On February 1, India had reported 11,427 coronavirus cases.

It took nearly 60 days for this figure to go past the 70,000-mark on April 1. However, the surge from 70,000 to over 3 lakh happened in just the last 20 days.



This shows the rapid and unprecedented pace with which the virus has spread across the country.

If the number of confirmed cases is broken down in months, the catastrophic surge in cases in April becomes evident.


The second wave of coronavirus in India was led by a rise in the number of cases in Maharashtra.

Four states from southern India — Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh — completed the list of five worst-hit states in the last three months.

Maharashtra contributed 63% of the country's total share of cases. Since January, the state has contributed 19%, 37%, 63% and 32% of the total monthly cases reported in the country.


The surge in cases appears to be stabilising in the month of April in Maharashtra. The fall in the number of cases comes close on the heels of imposition of lockdown by the state.


In February, the number of people dying from coronavirus almost halved in comparison to the previous month. However, the death toll started rising as the cases surged in March. In the 20 days of April, there have been over 22,000 Covid-related fatalities.


In March, Maharashtra was contributing as many as 46% of the total Covid-related deaths in the country. In April, the percentage share of deaths dropped to 33%.


The direness of the coronavirus crisis in Maharashtra can be seen in the following chart. While the rest of the states reported less than 15,000 deaths, Maharashtra's cumulative death toll crossed the 50,000 mark.