India recorded 10,55,068 Covid-19 cases in the first 15 days of this month, the lowest fortnightly count since the second half of August, as per daily data collated from state governments. The number was 18.4% less than the case count in the second half of September. This was the second straight fortnight when coronavirus cases had shown a decline. In the previous fortnight (September 16-30), when the pandemic numbers had dipped for the first time, fresh cases had dropped by 2.9%.The Covid-19 death toll has followed a similar pattern. In the first half of October, 13,474 fatalities were recorded, an 18.9% dip from the previous fortnight. The death count had dropped for the first time in the second half of September, although the fall was just 0.2%. Both the Covid-19 case count and the number of deaths had peaked in the first half of September. In that fortnight, the country had recorded 13,31,660 fresh infections (a 28.7% rise over the previous fortnight) and 16,641 deaths, up 15.4% from the previous 15 days.