One year since India reported 1st COVID-19 case: A timeline of the outbreak

With over 1 crore COVID-19 cases, India remains the second worst-affected country after the United States.

Moneycontrol News

January 30, 2021 / 12:39 IST

Image: AP

It has been a year since India reported its first COVID-19 case in Kerala. On January 30, 2020, a medical student, who returned to Thrissur from the Chinese province of Wuhan - the epicentre of the virus, tested positive for coronavirus.

Soon after, the second and third cases in the country were reported on February 2 and 3, both of whom had also returned from Wuhan.

From the first COVID-19 case in Kerala to over 1 crore cases a year later. Here's a timeline of how the virus progressed in India:

January 30, 2020: India's reports first COVID-19 case in Kerala.

March 2, 2020: Delhi-NCR reports the first case outside Kerala in India. Total cases rise to 5.

COVID-19 Vaccine

Frequently Asked Questions

How does a vaccine work?

A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine.

How many types of vaccines are there?

There are broadly four types of vaccine — one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine.

What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind?

Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time.

Show