A day after major cities in several states relaxed curbs on movements following a sharp decline in Covid cases amid a devastating second wave of infections, there was alarm over the way crowds thronged railway stations, shopping malls and other public places, triggering fears of the gains from the lockdowns being squandered by unruly crowds throwing all caution to the winds.
Since the highest recorded peak on 7 May, the Ministry of Health has announced an 85 percent drop in daily Covid-19 cases. “We are witnessing this situation after 75 days, thus indicating an overall decline in infection rate,” said Lav Agarwal, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Health. He also stated that there are just 5,000 ongoing Covid cases in 20 states and UTs across the country.
India reported 60,471 new Covid-19 cases in last twenty-four hours, the lowest in 75 days, and 2,726 deaths in the last 24 hours. The overall number of coronavirus cases in the country has now reached 2,95,70,881, with 3,77,031 deaths. There are currently 9,13,378 active cases, with 2,82,80,472 patients having recovered. The five most affected states are Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh respectively. Tamil Nadu recorded 11,805 new Covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours, pushing the caseload to 23,78,298, while 267 deaths took the toll to 30,068. Meanwhile, 23,207 people were discharged, taking the overall tally to 22,23,015 leaving 1,25,215 active infections.
Meanwhile, as several states announced easing of curbs, people are back on roads, with visuals of many individuals openly flouting Covid protocols.
After a five-week lockdown, authorities in Delhi have fully re-opened shops and malls, and allowed restaurants to have 50% seating. Suburban rail networks can run at 50% capacity, and offices have been partially reopened.
“Delhi’s top #mall saw a footfall of 19,000 people last weekend, as soon as it reopened. Have we gone totally mad?” Ambrish Mithal, a doctor with a Max HealthCare hospital in New Delhi said on Twitter. “Wait for #COVID19 to explode again, and blame the government, hospitals, country.”
The national capital reported 228 fresh Covid-19 cases, 12 fatalities and 364 recoveries in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of cases to 14,31,498, toll to 24,851 and recoveries to 14,03,569. There are 3,078 active cases in Delhi and the positivity rate is 0.32%.
As restrictions are lifted in big cities, migrant workers have begun returning from the countryside. In Bengaluru, media reported large crowds of workers at railway stations. “Unfortunately, citizens equate the government’s response to reopening, as a victory,” Dr Vishal Rao, a member of the expert committee on Karnataka’s Covid task force, told Reuters.
Meanwhile, according to the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), the Russian Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine is more effective than any other vaccination against the Delta version of the virus, which was initially found in India. “Sputnik V is more efficient against the Delta variant of coronavirus, first detected in India than any other vaccine that published results on this strain so far—the Gamaleya Center study submitted for publication in an international peer-reviewed journal”.
Dr V.K. Paul, Member-Health, Niti Aayog, said the Delta plus variant has been around since March. This is a variant of interest, but not yet one of concern. We have to assess its presence through INSACOG (Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomic Consortia).” WITH AGENCY INPUTS