India on Saturday surpassed 10 million coronavirus cases, a grim milestone for a country that at one time had one of the most explosive outbreaks in the world.
The country, with a population of about 1.4 billion, has just more than 10 million cases, according to a database maintained by Johns Hopkins University. More than 145,000 people have died there so far.
The total number of cases is alarming, though India ultimately hit the figure later than anticipated after a summer of skyrocketing cases. It took 30 days for India to accumulate the most recent million cases, the second-slowest pace since the start of the pandemic.
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The country is expected to roll out a vaccine in the coming weeks, but some health experts have said the drop in the pace of infections indicates herd immunity is developing among residents.
A government commission has already estimated that 60 percent of the world’s second-largest nation has been infected with the virus.
“Herd immunity is a huge part of it … which is helping us to break the transmission,” Pradeep Awate, a senior health official in India’s worst-hit state of Maharashtra, told Reuters.
“If the model is correct, it is unlikely that a second wave will happen, because once 60% have immunity, nothing can cause another wave,” added Manindra Agrawal, a member of the government committee.