Predictions, role of interventions and effects of a historic national lockdown in India's response to the COVID-19 pandemic: data science call to arms

Debashree Ray; Maxwell Salvatore; Rupam Bhattacharyya; Lili Wang; Shariq Mohammed; Soumik Purkayastha; Aritra Halder; Alexander Rix; Daniel Barker; Michael Kleinsasser; Yiwang Zhou; Peter Song; Debraj Bose; Mousumi Banerjee; Veerabhadran Baladandayuthapani; Parikshit Ghosh; Bhramar Mukherjee

In this article, we take a data-driven approach to explore five extremely time-sensitive and important questions that India faces today in light of the COVID-19 outbreak and the national lockdown: (a) How many cases can India expect at the end of the lockdown period? (b) When will the curve in India reach its apex and will the number of cases go back up after lockdown is lifted? (c) Can summer temperatures thwart the outbreak in India? (d) How can the government and the people of India prepare for this crisis during and after the lockdown? (e) How critical is it to have reliable data, data science methods and tools as we envision a long-term strategy during and after the lockdown?