Fresh cases of Covid-19 recorded during the Diwali week that ended on Sunday were the lowest since the beginning of the second wave in the country in mid-February this year.
India logged a little more than 80,700 new cases of the coronavirus in the week (November 1-7), a steep 16% drop from the number (96,500) recorded in the previous week.
This was the lowest weekly tally since February 8-14 this year, when new cases had dropped to 77,284. From mid-February onwards, infections started rising in what turned out to be a devastating second wave of the pandemic in the country.

A key reason for the sharp fall in cases in the current week could be the disruptions in testing and detections due to Diwali. The coming week could reveal whether the festivities had any impact on Covid infections.
Cases of the coronavirus have been decreasing steadily for the past nine weeks, with only the week after Dussehra/Durga Puja registering a marginal drop of 1%.
Daily numbers show cases decreased in nearly all states and Union territories of the country during the week, except for Jammu and Kashmir, which saw a spike in infections, particularly in the last two days. The UT reported 165 new cases on Sunday, the highest daily count since September 23, when 172 cases were reported.
Meanwhile, 2,614 deaths from the virus were recorded in the week.