Mumbai COVID-19 doubling rate is 50 days, highest in India

May 18: Goldman Sachs expects India will experience its deepest recession ever after a poor run of data underscored the damaging economic impact of lockdowns in the world’s second-most populous nation.

Gross domestic product will contract by an annualized 45% in the second quarter from the prior three months, compared with Goldman’s previous forecast of a 20% slump. A stronger rebound of 20% is now seen for the third quarter, while projections for the fourth quarter and first of next year are unchanged at 14% and 6.5%.

Those estimates imply that real GDP will fall by 5% in the 2021 fiscal year, which would be deeper than any other recession India has ever experienced, Goldman economists Prachi Mishra and Andrew Tilton wrote in a note dated May 17.

India’s government has extended its nationwide lockdown until May 31, while further easing restrictions in certain sectors to boost economic activity, as coronavirus cases escalate across the country. The announcement followed Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s fifth briefing in as many days, in which she outlined details of the country’s $265 billion virus rescue package, which is equivalent to 10% of India’s GDP.

 “There have been a series of structural reform announcements across several sectors over the past few days,” the Goldman economists wrote. “These reforms are more medium-term in nature, and we, therefore, do not expect these to have an immediate impact on reviving growth. We will continue to monitor their implementation to gauge their effect on the medium-term outlook.”

Infections are surging across the South Asian nation of 1.3 billion people, with more than 91,300 infections, including 2,897 deaths as of Sunday, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

New Delhi, Apr 16: The number of COVID-19 cases in India has reached 12,759, the Health Ministry said on Thursday.

According to the official data, India has 10,824 active cases and 1514 discharged and cured cases. Meanwhile, 420 people have died from the disease which originated in China.

Maharashtra has reported the highest number of cases in the country which stands at 2919, including 295 cured and discharged and 187 deaths.

With 1578 coronavirus cases, Delhi is in the second position of India's tally of corona infected people; followed by Tamil Nadu (1242) and Rajasthan (1023).

Kerala, which reported India's first coronavirus case, has 388 confirmed cases, including 295 cured and discharged and 187 deaths.

On the other hand, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana, that border the national capital, have 773 and 205 cases, respectively.

Chhattisgarh, Chandigarh and Pudducherry have reported 33, 21 and 7 cases respectively. While West Bengal has 231 coronavirus infected people, Odisha has confirmed 60 cases.

The newly carved union territories -- Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir--- have 17 and 300 cases, respectively.

In the Northeast, 33 people were detected positive for COVID-19 in Assam, which is the worst-affected states in the region. Six corona cases were confirmed from Meghalaya, two each from Manipur and Tripura and one from Arunachal Pradesh. Nagaland remains free from coronavirus till date, said the Ministry.