74.3 Overall Score

India

  • 78.4 Public Health
    Directives
  • 64.1 Financial
    Response
  • 60 Fact-Based
    Communication
  • 78.4 Public Health
    Directives
  • 64.1 Financial
    Response
  • 60 Fact-Based
    Communication

India scores just above the median, a large drop-off in recent months, keyed by substantial weakening of restrictions and worsening financial support.

Pre-COVID Conditions

India’s weak healthcare system, poor population health, very low number of hospital beds, and low GDP-per-capita resulted in it being vulnerable to the pandemic.

  • Debt/GDP ratio 68.1%
  • GDP/capita $9,027
  • Gini coefficient (out of 100) 37.8
  • Infant mortality rate (out of 1,000 live births) 30
  • Healthcare access score (out of 100) 44.8
  • Hospital beds/1,000 People 4.4

Government Response

Select a data point for more information
(Data points represent policy level as of Aug 1.)
78.4

Public Health Directives

India’s public health policy directives score relatively strongly, with limited testing and low emergency healthcare spending countering relatively strong school and public restrictions.

  • Stay at home order 1
  • Public gathering restrictions 3
  • School closings 3
  • Public event cancellations 2
  • Testing policy 2
  • Emergency healthcare investments/capita $0.91
  • Travel restrictions 4
  • Tests/1,000 people 0.4
  • Contact tracing 2
64.1

Financial Response

India’s relatively strong score is driven by its wide-ranging debt forbearance and relief, but its stimulus is fairly small, and it offers median levels of income support for workers, many of whom are employed in the informal sector or in migrant work.

  • Financial stimulus as share of GDP 9.7%
  • Income support 1
  • Debt forebearance 2
60

Fact-Based Communication

Across the country, Indian journalists have been arrested for sedition or spreading “fake news” in response to their reporting on the state’s handling of COVID-19.

  • Reliance on science/fact based information 0
  • Press freedom 2

COVID-19 Status as of Aug 1

India has performed consistently strongly in this category across all subcategories, particularly with its low death rate; however, numbers are recently spiking following easing of lockdown restrictions.

  • Total deaths 36,511
  • Death rate per 100K 26.5
  • Total cases 1,695,988
  • Cases per 100K 1,229
  • Percent of positive tests 10.2
Case Trend Line
Daily cases Level 1 Lockdown Level 2 Lockdown Level 3 Lockdown
Date Status New Cases/1M
1 Apr 29 Government permits stranded people to travel within the country 1.18
2 Jun 08 Restaurants, offices, malls, and places of worship reopen 6.84

Differentiating Factors

  • Hospitals overloaded: India's healthcare system is largely privatized, but private hospitals are being forced to close as staff contract coronavirus, and have reportedly been refusing to treat COVID patients. Despite requisitioning up to 80 percent of private hospital beds in Mumbai and New Delhi, authorities are still unable to treat the scale of infections. Read More
  • Rapid re-opening undoes early successes: In early July, India overtook Russia to become the country with the third-highest number of confirmed cases. This came one month after the re-opening of shopping centres, places of worship and offices, demonstrating the importance of India's initial lockdown to keeping cases down. Read More
  • Sudden lockdown caused mass migration: India's lockdown was announced just four hours before it came into place, leading to a mass migration effect as urban migrant workers attempted to travel home. This migration has been identified as a major facilitator of spread, and has put strain on rural medical infrastructure. Read More
Compared with the Nearest Countries in the Index
  • 35.3
    China 87,655
    Cases     61
    Per 1M     4,661
    Deaths

    China’s aggressive lockdowns played a key role in controlling case and death rates. However, its low score is driven by multiple factors, including the country’s minimal financial response and lack of press freedom and fact-based communications. China’s failure to report testing obscures understanding of actual COVID-19 dynamics within the country.

  • 0
    Iran 304,204
    Cases     3,622
    Per 1M     16,766
    Deaths

    Iran has a very weak policy score, due largely to very weak public health policy, driven by a severe lack of testing and substantial misinformation and press limitations by the national authorities.

  • 41.2
    Russia 839,981
    Cases     5,756
    Per 1M     13,963
    Deaths

    Russia has a relatively weak score, with strong public health policy undone by weak financial support, limitations on press freedom, and spread of misinformation about the pandemic.

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New Zealand

Statistics and government response factors available on each country profile include:

Pre-COVID Conditions:

  • Debt to GDP ratio
  • Infant mortality rates
  • Hospital beds per 1,000 people
  • Gini coefficients measuring inequality
  • Health access and quality

COVID-19 Public Health Directives:

  • Stay-at home orders
  • School-closing policy
  • Public-gathering restrictions
  • Cancellation of public events
  • Testing policy and rates per 1,000 people
  • Emergency healthcare spending per capita
  • Travel restrictions
  • Contact tracing

COVID-19 Financial Response:

  • Stimulus package as a share of GDP
  • Income support
  • Debt-forbearance

Public Communications:

  • Instances of misinformation by leadership
  • Limitations on press freedom, censorship

Current/Historic In-Country COVID-19 Status:

  • Death rates per 1 million
  • Case rates per 1 million