Our proprietary DART (Daily Activity and Recovery Tracker) Index validates economic activity continuing to solidify above the baseline of 100 albeit at petty pace yet again for the week ending 22nd Aug-21.
Download ReportQuantEco DART Index Economic activity attains a fresh peak
Economic activity in Aug-21 continues to build traction at a gradual pace above the baseline of 100. The swift and steady recovery post the second COVID wave of infections has been led by sustained state-level easing of restrictions and Google mobility regaining all of it’s lost ground since Feb-21, especially for categories such as retail and recreation, transit stations and parks. Several states have also allowed opening up educational institutions, multiplexes movie theatres after a gap of 18 months. This has been enabled by COVID cases now drifting lower towards ~30k at an all-India level (7DMA basis), after remaining fairly stable in the range of ~37-40k over the last month. On vaccination front, average weekly pace of daily doses administered too have stabilized in the range of 5.2-5.3 mn in Aug-21, faring better than ~4.3 mn in the month of Jul-21.
Heading into the festive season, the risk of a third wave of infections remains alive as social interactions normalize. Improving vaccine coverage remains critical, basis a mix of upping supplies and enhancing vaccine acceptancy. We believe that inoculating ~60% of population with the first dose by Dec-21 remains achievable. The latest approval to the world's first DNA vaccine ZyCoV-D by Cadilla for emergency use by India’s drug regulator offers added hope.