Almost two years after India went into the world's biggest lockdown to slow the spread of Covid-19, students headed back to school in Maharashtra state, a sign of normal life resuming as infection rates fall.

India's daily coronavirus infections have risen by less than 10,000 for a third straight day, a level last seen in late December before the rapid spread of the Omicron variant, data from the health ministry showed.

“Essentially it is more to do with the kind of severity India has seen, both amongst adults and children infected with the Omicron variant,” said Uma Chandra Mouli Natchu, a professor of infectious diseases at St John's Research Institute in Bengaluru.

“It appears the disease is significantly milder for both vaccinated individuals as well as for children, even if they are unvaccinated,” Natchu said.