Coronavirus spread largely under control: Festival lights shine through Covid cloud

Worries about a festive season surge in Covid infections have proven unfounded so far. The country’s overall active caseload is the lowest in 274 days while the daily positivity rate has been below 2% for the past 40 days. The average weekly caseload this year during the festival season peak was about 129,000, a third of the 384,000 in the corresponding period last year. If there is no further rise in cases, economic normalisation can accelerate.