Is India Ready to Address its Biggest Public Health Challenge? Forecasts from the Publicly Available Data on COVID-19

Abstract

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic in India has become the biggest public health challenge. If we go by the number of confirmed cases and casualties, the situation seems to be a matter of grave concern. The lock-down measures and social-distancing practices have played an important role in impeding the spread of COVID-19. However, accurate forecasting is required to prepare the healthcare-system for future plan-of-action. Objectives: The present study aims to predict the trends in the outbreak of COVID-19 in India, by forecasting on the basis of publicly-available data.