New Delhi:
India reported 40,134 new cases of COVID-19 and 422 deaths in the last 24 hours, as per the Union Health Ministry. The total number of cases currently stands at 3,16,95,958.
The death toll has climbed to 4,24,773. The number of active cases of COVID-19 in the country is 4,13,718.
A total of 36,946 patients recovered in the last 24 hours and 3,08,57,467 people have recovered from COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic. This constitutes an overall recovery rate of 97.35%.
According to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, India's COVID-19 vaccination coverage has exceeded 47.22 crore.
Cumulatively, 47,22,23,639 vaccine doses have been administered through 55,99,690 sessions, as per the provisional report till 7 am today. 17,06,598 vaccine doses were administered in the last 24 hours.
The weekly positivity rate is currently at 2.37% and the daily positivity rate stands at 2.81 per cent today. The daily positivity rate has remained below 5 per cent for 56 consecutive days now.
However, fresh Covid-19 cases in India registered a week-on-week rise for the first time in 12 weeks since the peak of the second wave in early May, indicating an early sign of another pandemic spike in the country, said experts.
India may see another rise in COVID-19 cases in mid of August with the third wave peaking, with less than 1,00,000 in the best cases scenario and nearly 1,50,000 infections a day in the worst scenario. A study by a group of researchers led by Mathukumalli Vidyasagar and Manindra Agrawal at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Hyderabad and Kanpur have predicted that India is likely to witness another rise in COVID-19 cases in August. However, they have also said that it is likely to be less brutal as the second wave where cases rose to 4 lakhs on a daily basis.
Earlier, Dr Samiran Panda, Head of Epidemiology and infectious diseases at the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) Speaking to ANI said that if the third wave of COVID-19 occurs, it will hit sometime around August-end. "There might be a third as it is not inevitable than the second wave. If the third wave happens, it will hit sometime around August end, it is not inevitable," said Dr Panda.
Dr Panda also said, "When will the third wave come and how severe it can be, all these questions are related to many factors which are not known to the full extent." India reported 40,134 new cases of COVID-19 and 422 deaths in the last 24 hours, as per the Union Health Ministry on Monday.
Currently, the surge is mainly restricted to Kerala and, to a much lesser degree, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
Kerala, the current epicentre of the pandemic in India, logged close to 1.4 lakh cases in the present week, a 26.5% increase from the previous week’s tally of 1.1 lakh. The state accounted for nearly half (49%) of all new cases in the country in the last seven days, with a daily average of 20,000 new cases.
In Tamil Nadu, the weekly case count remained the same as in the previous week — 13,090 cases as compared with 13,095 in the previous week. The daily case count has risen marginally in Tamil Nadu for four consecutive days now, going up from 1,756 on Wednesday to 1,990 on Sunday.
Maharashtra’s weekly numbers declined by 6.2%, following a 10% dip in the previous week. The state recorded 45,272 new cases this week as compared with 48,253 in the previous one.
Numbers in the northeast, another region that has seen a spike, appeared to have declined this week.
The Centre may consider using the National Disaster Management Act to issue directions to states where Covid positivity rates are high unless the situation changes for the better and central advisories to restrict movement are followed in areas currently recording worrying levels of infections.
The Centre is looking to persuade affected states, which include Kerala that has been contributing close to 50% of current Covid infections in the country and some of the northeast states, to implement advisories pertaining to micro containment to prevent a wider spread of infection in the community.
The new phase of universalization of COVID-19 vaccination commenced on 21st June 2021. The Union Government is committed to accelerating the pace and expanding the scope of COVID-19 vaccination throughout the country.
India will need to administer an average of 92 lakh doses a day if it is to meet the year-end target of fully vaccinating all those aged 18 or more. While this may seem quite doable given that this level was breached on June 21, it means maintaining a daily average that is 1.6 times as much as in the best week so far.
What is more, the four states with the largest adult populations — Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar and West Bengal — will all have to average more than double of what they achieved in their best week of vaccination so far. UP and Bihar will need to go at nearly two-and-a-half times their best weekly average so far.
India’s adult population as of 2021 is estimated at close to 94 crore by the Census office, which means 188 crore doses to fully vaccinate them all.
As of July end, 47 crore doses have been administered leaving 141 crore to be done over the remaining 153 days of the year. Hence, the average of 92 lakh per day is needed to do the job.
With substantially ramped up testing capacity across the country, a total of 14,28,984 tests were conducted in the last 24 hours in the country. Cumulatively, India has conducted over 46.96 crore (46,96,45,494) tests so far.