A third wave of coronavirus is inevitable but it is not clear on what time scale this phase would occur, the government said on Wednesday, while reiterating that we need to be prepared for the same.
Centre’s Principal Scientific Advisor Dr K VijayRaghavan said the new variants of the virus are more transmissible. “Phase 3 (third wave) is inevitable, given the high levels at which this virus is circulating. But it is not clear at what time scale this Phase 3 will occur. Hopefully, incrementally, but we should prepare for new waves. Ongoing surveillance is needed as are vaccine upgrades,” he said at a government briefing.
In a weekly report, the World Health Organization (WHO) said that India accounted for 46 per cent of global cases and a quarter of global deaths reported in the past week. India accounted for nearly half the cases reported worldwide last week, WHO said on Wednesday. The COVID-19 single-day death tally also shot up to 3,780.
An increasing share of recoveries can be seen vis-a-vis new cases. However, challenges in terms of increased cases, still continue.
-Joint Secretary, @MoHFW_INDIA pic.twitter.com/AvYPi4Vd4Q
— PIB India (@PIB_India) May 5, 2021
Health Ministry Joint Secretary Lav Agarwal said while there was an early trend in decline in cases. At present 12 states have more than 1 lakh active cases while seven states have 50,000 to 1 lakh active cases and 17 states have less than 50,000 active cases. Maharashtra, Kerala, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh have around 1.5 lakh active cases.
Bengaluru reported around 1.49 lakh cases in last one week. Chennai reported 38,000 cases. Some districts including Gurugram, Kozhikode, Ernakulam have recorded rapid spread of cases.
States of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Delhi and Haryana reported more death cases.
On the vaccine front, following the liberalised policy (for vaccination) which began on May 1, as many as 6.71 lakh people in the age group of 18-44 years have been administered vaccines so far.