India has reported 7,579 new coronavirus infections, the smallest rise in 1.5 years despite huge festival gatherings in recent weeks, thanks to rising vaccinations and antibodies from prior infections.

“Even after Diwali, we are not seeing a surge,” said M.D. Gupte, a former director of the state-run National Institute of Epidemiology, attributing it mainly to the presence of antibodies in a huge majority of Indians through natural infection.

“I think we are much safer now,” Reuters quoted him as saying.

Government surveys have estimated that nearly 70 per cent of Indians had been naturally infected by July, following a record rise in infections and deaths in April and May.